Walk right in: Brisbane’s best architecture to open their doors
It’s been 20 years since GOMA opened its doors and to mark this event its architects Lindsay and Kerry Clare will reflect on their iconic creation at this year’s Brisbane Open House.
It seems like it was only yesterday that I was interviewing and congratulating architects Lindsay and Kerry Clare on designing Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art.
But time flies when you’re having fun and that was 20 years ago when the opening of a new building on the banks of the Brisbane River transformed Queensland’s cultural life.
To mark GOMA’s 20th anniversary you can hear Linday and Kerry Clare and artist Tony Albert in conversation with QAGOMA director Chris Saines at GOMA on July 16.
Together this husband-and-wife team will reflect on GOMA as both an architectural landmark and a public space, in dialogue with the people, art and ideas that bring it to life.
This conversation will explore the evolution of GOMA, from the architects’ original vision to the recent addition of Tony Albert and Nell’s play sculpture The Big Hose (2022-25), and reflect on its significance as a cultural home for all Queenslanders.
The event is part of this year’s Brisbane Open House, which takes place over the July 18-19 weekend.
The Clares were with Sydney firm Architectus at the time and were design directors with Tasmanian architect James Jones, heading a team of about 50. The rest is history. Nice history for them.
You might like
“We really enjoy that it’s a much-loved building,” Kerry Clare says. “That’s the best compliment an architect can get. It’s a big part of people’s lives.”
And that makes them happy. They now run their Clare Design business from home on the Gold Coast and have a string of art galleries to their credit, including the stunning Rockhampton Museum of Art.
Lindsay Clare says the GOMA anniversary is really a 25th anniversary.
‘the thing about GOMA is that it doesn’t belong anywhere else’
“It’s 20 years since the opening but that means it’s 25 years since we designed it,” he says. “It was a big project with a 170-page brief, but we had a fantastic client in the gallery director at the time, Doug Hall. Tony Albert said the thing about GOMA is that it doesn’t belong anywhere else. That’s what good architecture should do. It should belong to this place.”
Lindsay Clare says they wanted to design a building that people could feel they owned. In some ways their design reflected a Sunshine Coast beach house – a rather large one.
“We visit regularly and it’s bursting from the seams now,” Kerry Clare says.
Their original vision included lighting the building, for which they suggested American artist James Turrell. This was a bit ambitious, but gallery director Chris Saines eventually made that happen.
Turrell’s permanent, immersive architectural light installation, Night Life (2018) is an 88-minute sequence of shifting colours that illuminates GOMA’s eastern and southern glass facades from within. It is the icing on the cake for the Clares. Frankly, I think there should be a bronze statue of them outside the building but, hey, that’s just me.
Hearing them chat with Chris Saines and Tony Albert will be a treat and will give a fascinating insight into the design of this iconic building. It’s the perfect lead-in event for a weekend of Brisbane Open House, which is returning with one of its most ambitious programs – with 93 buildings, including a record 16 private homes and significantly expanded ticket availability in response to last year’s extraordinary demand.
Subscribe for updates
Over the weekend of July 18 and 19, doors will open to the public across Greater Brisbane, unlocking major government institutions, cutting-edge commercial towers, heritage landmarks and beautiful private homes – many for the very first time.
Brisbane Open House co-chair Malcolm Middleton says this year’s event is unprecedented in scale and significance.
“This is Brisbane Open House’s 17th year, and we’ve never had a program quite like this,” he says. “All eyes are on Brisbane right now – the city is transforming at a pace as we count down to 2032.
“There is no better way to experience the transformation than exploring the buildings that have shaped Brisbane’s past and are shaping its future, and hearing from the architects behind them.”
The 2026 program introduces more than 30 new buildings to Brisbane Open House, including some of the most significant recent additions to the city’s skyline. Visitors can step inside impressive new commercial towers – 205 North Quay, 360 Queen Street and the striking residential tower at 443 Queen Street – and enjoy a rare exclusive preview of a not-yet-opened lab at world-leading research facility, the Translational Research Institute.
For those drawn to Brisbane’s Olympic future, the program also opens the doors of the National Rugby Training Centre at Ballymore and offers an opportunity to walk the stands of The Gabba before its post-2032 redevelopment transforms the site.
Much-loved program staples return in 2026 including ABC Brisbane, Brisbane City Hall, Government House, Brisbane Airport, Port of Brisbane, Parliament House, Spring Hill Baths, Old Government House, Roma Street Fire Station and many others.
A record 16 private homes, many of them award-winning, open their doors in partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects, offering visitors a rare and intimate look inside some of the city’s most extraordinary places to live. Highlights include the Balmoral Hillside House, a tour of six Torbreck apartments at Highgate Hill and modernist favourite, Eisenmenger House at Carina.
There will be talks, walks, tours and special events.
Most buildings in this year’s program are open access and do not require bookings. A small number of buildings, including private homes, offer pre-booked tours only, and viewers will need a ticket to attend.
Brisbane Open House is held over the July 18-19 weekend. Ticket bookings open June 24.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
Free to share
This article may be shared online or in print under a Creative Commons licence