PBSA Brings New Life to Lady Lamington Building

For the best part of 100 years, the Lady Lamington building in Brisbane’s northern suburbs was home to successive generations of student nurses who then went on to work at the neighbouring Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

That ceased in 1993 and soon after the E-shaped building, with its timber verandahs, Marseille-tiled rooves and commanding views of the distant capital, fell into disrepair.

Mary Houghton Hozier, better known in Queensland as Lady Lamington, would be delighted to know all that changed earlier this year when, after a $85-million refurbishment, the lower building and adjoining towers that take her name reopened as purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).

The refurbishment of Lady Lamington Nursing Home is part of the 5.4ha, $1.1-billion Herston Quarter development being undertaken by Australian Unity.

▲ The Lady Lamington Building is one of three heritage-listed refurbishments under the agreement with Australian Unity.

And later this week, Herston Quarter’s development director Richard McLachlan will tell The Urban Developer’s PBSA vSummit some of the unique challenges involved in taking a run-down, 126-year-old heritage-listed building and turning it into state-of-the-art student accommodation.

“One of the fundamental requirements of our development agreement with the landowner, Metro North Health, is that these buildings would be retained and re-purposed,” McLachlan said.

There are three heritage buildings within the internationally renowned Herston Health Precinct—a 20-ha site given over to health, innovation, education, research, training and clinical care.  The Lady Norman building has yet to be renovated, and the Edith Cavell building has been repurposed as commercial office space, with Australian Unity taking the top level.

▲ The refurbished facility includes a shared state-of-the-art kitchen.

“We worked through a range of different options and scenarios in the formative stage of the project and came to the decision that PBSA was a sensible use for the Lady Lamington building, given the proximity to the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital but also to the adjacent university campuses,” McLachlan said.

“It also contributes to creating a community in our project area and activating the site 24-7. 

“We have invested time, effort and dollars in creating a stunning public realm that surrounds these buildings, with some great opportunities for activation and bringing students, residents and workers out of their buildings and into the open areas.”

The 695-bed PBSA at Herston Quarter is owned by an Australian Unity managed fund, while the operation of the facility falls to UniLodge Australia, the country’s biggest operator of student accommodation.

McLachlan said the tenants were not just nurses and medical students.

▲ The 695-bed facility is managed by UniLodge Australia

“The reality is we are also within walking distance of Queensland University of Technology’s campus at Kelvin Grove, so there are students in the facility from a range of institutions studying a range of different courses, some of which are medical and oral health nursing.  But we are a very broad church not exclusive to any institution or any specific area of study,” he said.

Looking to understand more about Australia’s PBSA market? Tune in to The Urban Developer's upcoming vSummit Thursday, 14 July. Click here to secure your ticket.

Australian Unity won the contract to develop the site of the former children’s hospital in 2016.  The development will be delivered in multiple stages over a 10-year program.

And Lady Lamington?  She was the wife of Charles Cochrane-Baillie, Second Baron Lamington, once the governor of Queensland. And yes, he is alleged to have lent his name to the popular cube of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate icing and sprinkled with coconut.