Toowoomba Region Design
Our 'Garden City' is the hub of one of Australia's most attractive regions. It's where city and country life blends together in an amazing, warm temperate climate.
Our diverse landscape spans 12,973km2. It stretches from the Great Dividing Range through to the Darling Downs flood plains.
To help preserve our diverse lifestyles and landscapes, and celebrate our legacy as the 'Garden City', we’ve written three sets of guidelines. These include the:
Our guidelines aim to:
- meet our commitment to developing a sustainable built environment for our unique climate
- promote, advocate for and advance best-practice design for our built environment
- ensure design responds to both context and place
- create buildings to maintain comfortable lifestyles in changing climate conditions.
Toowoomba Region Design – Warm Temperate Climate Building Design Guidelines
We created our Warm Temperate Climate Building Design Guidelines(PDF, 11MB) to help homeowners, commercial property owners and renters design new buildings that complement our climate.
Our document provides design tips to:
- improve energy efficiency
- prepare new buildings for changing climate conditions
- maintain the rich history and distinctive character of the Toowoomba region.
These building design guidelines are the first in our Toowoomba Region Design series.
Toowoomba Region Urban Design Initiative (TRUDI)
Urban design is multi-faceted and can be challenging to describe. But in simple terms, it’s about making better places to live in. We created TRUDI to raise mindfulness of this within our communities.
TRUDI supports visions noted in the:
- Toowoomba Regional Community Plan (2010)
- Toowoomba Regional Planning Scheme (2012)
- Toowoomba City Centre Master Plan
Toowoomba Regional Community Plan (2010)
Toowoomba Regional Community Plan (2010)
To help design our city, suburbs and rural towns, we created the Toowoomba Regional Community Plan (2010).
This plan contains strategies that promote:
- self-containment
- local identity and character
- more compact patterns of development
- safety through design.
This plan recognises the influence of urban design in supporting healthy lifestyles. It calls for more diverse, affordable housing, and emphasises the Region’s network of towns.
Toowoomba Regional Planning Scheme (2012)
Toowoomba Regional Planning Scheme (2012)
- the increased residential densities in Toowoomba City, Highfields and rural towns
- the need to create more housing diversity
- the need to create neighbourhoods where residents can walk or cycle to work, school, shops, services and parks.
Toowoomba City Centre Master Plan
Toowoomba City Centre Master Plan
The Toowoomba City Centre Master Plan aims to create ‘A thriving place that is truly the heart of the region.’
One way we can achieve this goal is through high quality urban design.
TRUDI policy
TRUDI policy
Our Urban Design Policy and Practice in the Toowoomba Region(PDF, 546KB) document outlines the program’s results so far.
The document also outlines next steps and includes:
- our new urban design policy on page 3
- an explanation of our urban design approach on page 4
- urban design priorities for the Toowoomba Region on page 5
- practical implementation measures we intend to pursue in the future on page 7.
Toowoomba Shop-Top Living Design Guide
With shop-top living, we can revitalise Toowoomba’s CBD and Railway Parklands Priority Development Area (PDA). Shop-top living also gives residents a chance to live in character and heritage buildings, which differ from buildings in other regional centres.
Our Toowoomba Shop-Top Living Design Guide(PDF, 18MB) shows how under-used space can convert to living space. It also helps step readers through the conversion process and associated regulations and compliance requirements – both ours and those of external agencies.
The guide contains information for:
- owners
- developers
- investors
- building professionals
- real estate agents.
However, if you’re considering investing in shop-top conversions, please read the Toowoomba Shop-Top Living Design Guide in the context it is intended, and seek professional advice.