Design principles | Sunshine Coast Council

The following 10 design principles are based on what our community values about the Sunshine Coast. The principles do not push a certain architectural or landscape style. They aim to express the four values and provide ideas for working with them.

The principles should be considered in the design process for all built form at any scale, including homes, pathways, streets, parks, public spaces, commercial and public buildings, and neighborhoods – everything we construct that contributes to the place where we live, work and play.

Principle 1: Work with local climate
Good Sunshine Coast design works with our sub-tropical climate.
Principle 2: Create respectful places that incorporate landscape
Good Sunshine Coast design considers our landscape character, which underpins the identity and experience of Sunshine Coast places.
Principle 3: Bring cultures, arts, heritage to life
Good Sunshine Coast design promotes opportunities to understand, share and celebrate the distinctive cultures of our region and encourages creative expression of emerging cultures and art.
Principle 4: Capture and frame views, create vistas
Good design on the Sunshine Coast captures and embeds views and vistas within the built environment.
Principle 5: Strengthen/extend a network of great corridors
Our landscapes establish natural corridors that connect the region, offering routes that encourage pedestrians and cyclists away from the road corridors.
Principle 6: Be inspired by the natural/built environment
Good design on the Sunshine Coast is inspired by the elements of built form that have served us in the past to create a strong sense of local identity.
Principle 7: Create shady streets, putting people first
Good Sunshine Coast design creates a built environment that is walkable and comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists.
Principle 8: Create welcoming places, enjoyed by everyone
Good design on the Sunshine Coast creates welcoming places that are accessible to all, delivering public and private places that contribute to an active street life and community enjoyment.
Principle 9: Design resilient places, ready for change
Good design on the Sunshine Coast anticipates these changes. It creates places with the potential to adapt and/or be re-used for other purposes, requiring the construction of built forms that last longer and can have many useful lives
Principle 10: Create and add value
Good design on the Sunshine Coast goes above and beyond minimum requirements.