Aurecon Design Academy named Best in Class at Australian Good Design Awards
Aurecon Design Academy wins Best in Class at the 2026 Australian Good Design Awards, celebrating the company's decade-long investment in developing its people.
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In late 2018, some 600 staff of Aurecon’s Brisbane office will be moving to a new building at 25 King Street, located within the 22 hectare RNA Regeneration Project.
The global engineering and advisory firm will occupy four floors, or almost 6,500 m2 of office space in the landmark building. Aurecon has also provided structural engineering, ESD and building services engineering design to the project.

The superstructure of the ten-storey tower utilises a combination of revolutionary engineered Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and glulam (glue laminated timber). The glulam is used for the structural beams and columns, and the CLT for the floors, lift shafts and escape stairs.
The engineered timber has a lower carbon footprint than traditional building materials, and is sourced from certified sustainably-managed forests. It enables precise offsite prefabrication and safer onsite construction.
At a height of 52 m[1], 25 King will be the tallest engineered-timber building in Australia and the largest of its type by gross floor area in the world.
The building design showcases the timber by expressing it as much as possible. Aurecon’s tenancy can celebrate the timber and create a contemporary and creative studio environment.
The building will target a 6 Green Star rating using the new Design & As Built tool, as well as a 5 Star NABERS Energy rating. Key sustainability initiatives include a high-performance facade (including external shading), enhanced occupant thermal comfort, human-centric lighting design practices, and rainwater harvesting/reuse.
According to Neil Barr, Aurecon’s South Queensland Regional Director, the company has also taken an active role in reducing building costs through digital design and modularisation. “The next step in our planning will be to design the new fitout space to promote movement and collaboration between our teams and a positive working environment for our staff,” he said.
The building is another great example of the strong collaboration between Aurecon and Lendlease to deliver world-class facilities. Recent projects include the Sunshine University Hospital, Melbourne Aurecon Centre, Brisbane Supreme Court, the Lendlease Asian Head Office fitout in Singapore, and Sydney's 420 George Street.
25 King Street is one of the projects to be delivered in the AUD 2.9 billion renewal of the Brisbane Showgrounds precinct in Fortitude Valley, 1.5 km from the Brisbane CBD. The Showgrounds renewal started in 2011 and extends over 22 hectares of a brownfield site. It is one of the largest urban renewal initiatives in Australia, including 340,000 m2 of new residential, commercial and retail buildings.
[1] Levels 1-9 are CLT/Glulam construction, reaching 45 m, with a lightweight steel construction on Level 10, giving a total height of 52 m.

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