Eco home on the ranges for UQ students

University of Queensland architectural design students will have a chance to see their competition-winning accommodation “pod” creation turn into reality near the Lamington National Park.

A design named The Basket won $500 for the team of Will Downes, Ricky Hill, Eden Mathews, Briohny McKauge and Jasmin Ong, and it will now become part of a new eco village.

Second prize of $250 went to The Lantern designed by Stephen Bull, Kirstin Evans, Jim Hampson, Gina McKenzie and Josh Spillane.

The two teams were among nine groups of students to pitch their visions for a rainforest living “pod” to the backers of the new development.

The competition was a collaboration between The Ridge on Binna Burra and UQ’s School of Geography, Planning and Architecture.

The Ridge is an eco village of holiday homes, apartments and cabins set in 40 acres of eucalypt forest.

Teams worked with Associate Professor Peter Skinner to design a “pod” as a deep retreat experience within the rainforest.

The ‘pod’ will be used for overnight accommodation for guests of the Ethos Centre, a holistic education retreat.

Under the design criteria for the competition, the ‘pod’ had to provide sleeping accommodation, a small living area, and low-impact servicing.

Dr Skinner said the students were highly motivated for the competition.

“It was an extraordinary opportunity for students to apply their creative design skills to a genuinely innovative project with rich ecological repercussions,” he said.