Could this Sydney Olympic legacy be a blueprint to help solve one of Queensland's biggest problems?

The real legacy of the Sydney Olympics can be found overlooking the beautiful Queensland coast — and some say it should provide inspiration for the organizers of Brisbane 2032.

The twelve 57 sqm two-bedroom, one-bath spa villas from Sydney 2000 have become a getaway for visitors to the Philippa Thompson caravan park at Rainbow Beach, north of the Sunshine Coast.

Ms Thompson says after hosting thousands of holiday makers for 21 years, they remain in good working condition and only need occasional updates and additions, and are working on wear and tear.

Pre-fabricated buildings were shipped to locations across the country and the athlete’s village of Newington in Sydney was converted into apartments. The whole area turned into a new residential community.

Minor additions have been made to the villa over the last two decades.(provided)

Ten years before hosting the Olympics and Paralympics, architects say the village that will host most of the more than 23,000 athletes and officials arriving in 2032 could leave a similar legacy in Queensland.

The future Olympic city is already grappling with a growing housing shortage and there are about 31,000 households on social housing lists.

Ms Thompson said the units from the Sydney Games proved to be a “savior” for those trapped by the pandemic-enforced border closures and could easily be reused as social housing, thanks to their modular design.

“They’re big enough for a family of four,” he said.

“I’ll think of something [of] that design makes it really easy [to be repurposed for housing] because they can line up side by side. It can be arranged so well that … they enter together.”

The former Sydney Olympic Games villa has two bedrooms.(provided)

The villas also have a spa and Ms Thompson said they could be suitable for families.(provided)

What is planned for Brisbane’s Olympic village heritage?

The state government expects more than $500 million in private investment to develop a 40 hectare plot for the Olympic village on land owned by Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) in Hamilton, north of Brisbane.

The Brisbane Olympic Village will be located at the heart of the Olympic venues.(Provided: Queensland Government)

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Assisting Prime Minister in Olympic Infrastructure Steven Miles last year said “rural heritage is already very important”.

The government said it wanted the Games to “accelerate the delivery of existing long-term plans” in the Northshore Hamilton area and that development plans for the area would be amended to provide “new residential, commercial, retail and mixed-use development opportunities”.

However unlike the Sydney Games, there are currently no plans for modular housing or relocation.

The village will eventually become a riverside housing community, including social, pension, key workers and rented accommodation, hotel stock and market housing.(Provided: Queensland Government)

The proposed Development Scheme for the Olympic Village area nominates at least 5 percent of the Priority Development Area (PDA) to be devoted to public, social and affordable housing.

A minimum of 10 percent of the total residential occupancy will have three or more bedrooms.

The Olympic bid also outlines plans for smaller athlete villages of Robina on the Gold Coast and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, hosting 2,600 and 1,400 athletes and officials, respectively.

A ‘key role’ for mobile residences

Award-winning Brisbane architect John Ellway said the government’s definition of a modern “success community” was probably “not the best metric”.

Brisbane architect John Ellway says life in a tall building is not always ideal.(provided)

“Taller towers can be glamorous and provide a stunning real estate image, but I would argue that they don’t encourage people to build long term,” he said.

“You become detached from the land … and less likely to engage with that wider community. There is an opportunity here to build in a way that is much denser than our current suburbs, but manage the heights to the fullest.”

Dan Burnett, a Brisbane-based architect with a modular housing firm, agrees with Mr Ellway that a mix of low-rise permanent buildings and movable housing has the potential to meet post-Olympic housing requirements.

A proposed Olympic village at Robina on Queensland’s Gold Coast for the 2032 Olympics will host more than 2,600 athletes and officials.(Provided: International Olympic Committee)

Mr Burnett said the athletes’ village office was a “rare opportunity”.

“To design an innovative housing module that is both more in line with the demands of an athlete village and a more viable solution for low-cost housing after the Olympics than traditional high-rise apartments,” he said.

“It is unlikely that the 10,000 beds needed for the village will be provided as a permanent development, and therefore there will be a key role for modular living or relocation to make up for the shortfall, as in the Sydney 2000 Village.

“This design will offer a customizable, small-scale floor plan that balances privacy and interaction with other residents in the community and a strong connection to the landscape.

“This modular design can be applied to three-story or multi-story homes with individual gardens or as more compact residences of up to five or six stories.”

Brisbane will continue to grow

The 2021 census reveals there are 5.2 million Queenslanders — up from 4.7 million in 2016.

Aude Bernard, a migration and population researcher at the University of Queensland, said Brisbane’s population would continue to grow and its interstate migration rate “will almost certainly remain positive”.

Urban and social planner Stephanie Wyeth says as contemporary family lifestyles change, different types of housing are needed to meet their changing needs.

“There is great potential for well-designed and climate-responsive prefabricated housing,” Wyeth said.

Regarding relocationable housing, he said “it will depend on smart planning, design and construction” for it to work in multiple locations as a permanent solution.

Mr Burnett said it currently costs $50,000 to move a three-bedroom, two-bath modular home and while there are no known large-scale construction models in Australia that use movable homes, units can be built with designs “indistinguishable from traditional homes. site construction”.

#Sydney #Olympic #legacy #blueprint #solve #Queenslands #biggest #problems