Green Light Creative’s Award-winning Project "The Deck Northshore"

Photo by Andy Macpherson Studio

Great architecture starts with a vision. 

Back in 2017, Green Light Creative was tasked with bringing a project at Northshore Hamilton to life. We saw the opportunity to make an information hub into something so much more: a vibrant and inviting space that doesn’t just inform you about the future, it inspires you. The resulting building — The Deck Northshore — has gone well beyond the brief to collect a swathe of architecture awards throughout 2018.​

Photo by Andy Macpherson Studio

Photo by Andy Macpherson Studio

The Deck is a triumph of beautiful contradictions as it:

• is temporary, but it looks well-established and permanent
• was designed and built to a tight budget but looks expensive
• ​uses timbers from the area’s history but looks contemporary​

Award Winning Design

​In functional terms, the building is a roof that links two connected pods below (housing an amenities block and an information hub). But we delivered so much more: the The Deck's slanted canopy of weathered ironbark boards — made from recycled wharf timbers — ​frames the river, creates shade and connects Northshore’s past to its future. 

The Deck has captured the hearts of Northshore’s visitors and earned the building numerous architectural awards, including:

• two awards at the Australian Timber Design Awards 2018
• the Hayes and Scott Award for Small Project Architecture the 2018 QueenslandArchitecture Awards, and
• a national award for small projects at The 2018 RAIA National Architecture Awards in Melbourne.

Photo by Andy Macpherson Studio

Photo by Andy Macpherson Studio

On time, on budget, inspired

​For this project, Green Light Creative were contracted to find a solution for our client (EDQ) who wanted a space to communicate their future vision for the Northshore Hamilton site to the public. The building would need to be temporary (able to be removed or moved as the precinct evolves), to fit with both the river and nearby Eat Street, and be functional —  housing both an information centre and an amenities block. The project had a tight budget and the site was challenging, but throughout, Green Light Creative worked tirelessly to keep the projecton budget and moving along on time. 

The client was picturing a shipping container fitout to act as an information hub next to the popular Eat Street precinct. We thought outside the box (outside the shipping container, you could say) and took our inspiration from recycled wharf timbers from the site’s history. We brought architect Anna O’Gorman on board, and she conceived a stunning small, modular design that ditched the shipping containers and instead connected the building to its site and surroundings by framing the river in the recycled grey ironbark timbers. 

Anna and Green Light Creative then chose Charles Warren Construction for the build, and the old wharf timbers were processed by Kennedy's Timber. To bring the architect’s vision to life, we managed all suppliers and the team worked under challenging site conditions to deliver a breath-taking, award-winning outcome.

The efforts of this team were second to none and choosing this dream team certainly taught us a lot and ensured that an amazing end product was delivered! We were truely fortunate to find such talent to bring onboard for this project.

The Deck is not just an information hub built from the past that informs you about the future, a beautiful place to chill in the shade by the river, and an award-winning architectural triumph.