Adelaide buildings: South Australia architecture designs

Adelaide buildings, South Australia architecture, house architect, office building projects, tower real estate

Adelaide Buildings, South Australia Architecture

post updated 12 May 2026

Australia Architecture Designs – chronological list

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12 May 2026
Mensa Kitchen, Kent Town
Architects: Splintr Joinery

photo : Jack Fenby
The aesthetic and material strategy was developed directly from the surrounding context. It takes cues from the existing building fabric and from the identity of the businesses intended to occupy the spaces, ensuring the architecture feels grounded rather than imposed.
The concept introduces two distinct but related offerings. They are physically close and visually connected, yet operate as separate entities with their own character. The intention is a deliberate balance: complementary in function and relationship, but contrasting in expression—so each reinforces the other through difference rather than uniformity.

11 May 2026
Portside Christian College Senior School, Ethelton, Adelaide, South Australia
Architects: DesignInc

photo : Sam Noonan Photography
The Portside Christian College Senior School is a future-focused, three-storey vertical learning environment designed in response to the highly constrained conditions of the New Port Quays redevelopment site.
Conceived as the first stage of a broader campus masterplan, the building establishes a strong foundation for progressive, flexible, and student-centred education. Its design supports contemporary learning approaches through adaptable teaching spaces and a connected educational environment tailored to the evolving needs of students and staff.

5 May 2026
City Cottage Adelaide Hills
Architect: Sans-Arc Studio

photo : Jack Fenby
City Cottage is a home shaped by a deep affection for inner-city life—by people who know their neighbours, invest in their local surroundings, and believe that cities are formed as much through shared meals and everyday conversation as through buildings themselves.
For its owners, long involved in hospitality and creative start-up culture, the cottage operates as a deliberate counterpoint to conventional domestic living, emphasising connection, openness, and a more social way of inhabiting the city.

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Key contemporary architectural + property developments:

South Australia Architecture News 2025, chronological:

29 July 2025
House in the Hills, Adelaide Hills
Architects: James Allen Architect

photo : Christopher Morrison
The House in the Hills is set on the gentle slopes of a former cow paddock between Echunga and Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills region.
Its elongated plan is carefully shaped in response to the natural topography, stretching across the site to minimise excavation and disturbance to the landscape. This approach allows the building to sit lightly within its setting while maximising outlooks, with nearly all rooms oriented to capture expansive views across the paddock towards the site’s dam.

6 February 2025
Tiwu Kumangka Library, Blackwood, Adelaide
Architects: DesignInc

photo : David Sievers
Tiwu Kumangka is located in Blackwood, a southeastern suburb nestled within the foothills of Adelaide. Linking building form, landscape and reserve, the two-storey library and multipurpose community hub brings people together to connect, explore, learn and create.

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Adelaide Building News

South Australia Architectural News 2022 – 2023, chronological:

1 Jun 2023
Doyle Residence, Rose Park
Architects: Glasshouse Projects

photo : Aaron Citti
The Doyle Residence is an extension and partial restoration of a character villa located within a heritage conservation zone in the prestigious suburb of Rose Park, one of Adelaide’s most sought-after residential areas.
Set on a 1100sqm site with rear lane access and a north-facing established garden, the project adds a contemporary extension that carefully complements the original dwelling. The new works include an open-plan living and kitchen area, laundry, powder room, outdoor entertaining space, and a home office with an adjoining library, enhancing both functionality and connection to the garden setting.

27 Mar 2023
Residence 264
Architects: Enzo Caroscio Architecture

render : Peter Fisher Photography
Residence 264 is a new and innovative house typology derived from its site’s constraints and designed to take advantage of its location’s amenity. Located within an urban city context, the small site is contained between building forms on three sides with a south facing street frontage.

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South Australian built environment designs news in 2022:

18 Aug 2022
Port Willunga Residence, South Australia
Architecture: Urban Habitats

photo : Kate Bowman Photography
The early engagement of Urban Habitats’ inhouse Architect to coordinate demolition of the 1950s timber structure to make way for the new two-storey designed residence to compliment the fall of the block down toward to the roadside and still to take in the sea and mountain views. A considered selection of construction materials and colour palette add interest to this Adelaide home.

29 July 2022
House on Haines, Adelaide
Architecture: Studio Nine Architects

photo : David Sievers
Located within the Adelaide foothills, House on Haines is a uniquely designed functions and wedding destination. The new venue, accommodating up to 200 guests, is an expansion to the existing Tea Tree Gully Hotel offering, situated just 30 minutes from the Adelaide CBD.

9 Mar 2022
Number 14, Heathpool House, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Design: Black Rabbit Architecture + Interiors

photo : Christopher Morrison
This new Australian property asserts itself as some of the most interesting real estate in Adelaide, amongst the traditional housing typology of a leafy Adelaidean streetscape. Keeping within its context by subtly nodding its head to the bungalow that previously occupied the site.

More Adelaide Buildings on e-architect soon.

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Adelaide Buildings News in 2021

13 Aug 2021
Number 6, Adelaide Hills Housealia
Design: Black Rabbit Architecture + Interiors

photo : Aaron Citti
Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life and surrounded by the serenity of the Adelaide Hills this property is above all a place to call home. Gestures to iconic forms from days gone by, familiarity of homely materials punctuated by ‘blackness’, articulating the interiors and affording the tiered and gloomy original house a new lease on life.

22 Apr 2021
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide Building
Design: Cox Architecture

photo : Chris Oaten
Her Majesty’s Theatre, constructed in 1913, is the oldest continuously operating performance venue in Adelaide. Upon its opening, it was described as “the most luxuriously appointed theatre in Australia,” reflecting its prominence and grandeur at the time.
Affectionately known as “Her Maj,” the theatre is also the last surviving example of the Tivoli chain of theatres in Australia, marking it as a significant piece of the country’s cultural and performance history.

9 May 2021
58 IPARRITYI, Adelaide Whitmore Square building
Design: Enzo Caroscio

image courtesy of architects practice
The development known as 58 Iparrityi takes its name from the Kaurna word for Whitmore Square. Positioned on the southwest corner of the square, the boutique mixed-use building is planned to include 11 residential apartments alongside a ground-floor retail and hospitality precinct.
According to designer Caroscio, the architectural intent is to achieve a highly sculptural and articulated form, using recessed shadowing and a deliberate interplay between solid and void to create depth, contrast, and visual interest in the façade composition.

18 Apr 2021
Victor Harbor Senior High School, Adelaide
Architect: Hames Sharley

photo : Hames Sharley
The Victor Harbor High School is located approximately 80km south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Its senior school campus is the first state high school in South Australia to fully integrate principles of personalised learning into its spatial design.
Traditional classroom models are replaced with a more open, socially interactive and technology-enabled environment. The campus features flexible learning spaces supported by wireless connectivity, along with student commons, learning streets, courtyards, and piazzas, encouraging collaboration, movement, and a more adaptable approach to teaching and learning.

1 Feb 2021
Mosaic Hotel, Adelaide
Design: Studio Nine Architects
Following the demolition of Football Park—formerly Adelaide’s primary venue for Australian Football League matches—a portion of the original stadium structure was retained, including the area that once housed the Checkside Tavern. This retained fabric has been transformed into a contemporary, light-filled, multi-use hospitality venue designed to function as a modern “local” for the growing community.
The revitalised hotel responds directly to the arrival of approximately 3,000 new residents associated with the nearby WEST Residential Development, reactivating the former sporting precinct and helping to establish a new civic and social focal point for the area.

12 Mar 2021
District Bar
Architecture: Studio Nine Architects
Located within an internal courtyard on Level 1 of Adelaide Casino, the District Bar is designed around an industrial, rustic aesthetic that draws inspiration from the surrounding mechanical ductwork and the exposed fabric of the building.
The interior concept embraces and celebrates the character of the state heritage-listed structure, using its existing materials and services as a central design feature to create a distinctive, atmospheric hospitality space.

More contemporary Adelaide Buildings online here at e-architect soon.

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Adelaide Buildings News in 2020

10 Aug 2020
Spinifex House
Design: Khab Architects
The Spinifex House is a modest-scale beachfront dwelling that sits within a rapidly developing coastal setting where larger contemporary homes now dominate the landscape.
In contrast to its more assertive neighbours, the house draws inspiration from the informal character of the original coastal shacks. It is designed to sit lightly on the land, carefully engaging with the dune environment and softening the boundary between the built form and the adjacent coastal reserve, reinforcing a sensitive and restrained approach to its beachfront context.

6 Aug 2020
Torrens Park Residence
Architecture: Urban Habitats
The home establishes a seamless relationship between interior and exterior spaces, with the design carefully blurring the boundaries between inside and out. The architecture studio introduced new areas that remain consistent with the character and materiality of the existing structure, ensuring a cohesive overall composition.
Urban Habitats led a sympathetic renovation of this 1970s mid-century inspired residence, approaching the project with an emphasis on continuity, respect for the original design language, and sensitive integration of contemporary interventions.

2 Aug 2020
PR House
Architect: Architects Ink
PR House is a distinctive coastal residence designed as a replacement for the client’s much-loved but deteriorated 1960s beach shack.
The design preserves the informal “shack” character of the original dwelling through the use of natural, robust, and low-maintenance materials. Its simple square footprint is directly influenced by the form of the previous structure, maintaining a strong sense of continuity while offering a refreshed and durable interpretation of a classic beachside typology.

6 Jul 2020
Tonkin Consulting
Design: Hames Sharley
From the moment visitors enter the space, the design expresses a clear balance of form, flair, and functionality. The interior creates an immediate sense of cohesion and purpose, where spatial planning and material choices work together to shape an engaging environment.
The designers have prioritised people-centred principles, delivering a setting that fosters community, encourages interaction, and supports collaboration as a core part of its everyday use.

31 May 2020
BB Garage
Architecture: Architects Ink
BB Garage was developed in response to the client’s need to improve vehicle circulation and accessibility to the residence for visitors, while also expanding storage capacity for a specialist car collection integrated with a games and rumpus space.
Driven by the client’s passion for motorsport and frustration at not being able to regularly enjoy his vehicles—previously stored off-site—the project brings the collection closer to home, combining functional vehicle storage with a social and recreational environment that allows the cars to be appreciated as part of everyday living.

28 Mar 2020
The LVL House
Architects: Ply Architecture
Upon entering the front door, occupants are immediately drawn through the space towards the rear, where a generous open-plan living volume unfolds in a strong east–west linear orientation. The composition guides movement and sightlines through the home, creating a clear spatial journey from arrival to the principal living areas.
This internal arrangement is balanced by an expansive pool positioned along the façade, which visually extends the architecture outward. The water reflects and filters soft natural light into the interior, enhancing the sense of openness and connection between the built form and its external environme

More new Adelaide Buildings online here soon.

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Adelaide Buildings News in 2019

17 Oct 2019
Pridham Hall in Adelaide
Architecture: Snøhetta, JPE Design Studio and Jam Factory
The University of South Australia was established in its current form in 1991 through the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and the South Australian College of Advanced Education.
Within this context of institutional consolidation and growth, Pridham Hall has played a key role in reshaping the on-campus student experience. By also opening its facilities to the surrounding community, it functions as a civic landmark, strengthening connections between the university and the broader city while supporting sport, events, and social interaction.

21 Jan 2019
LBK House in Adelaide
Design: Ply Architecture
A modern, light-filled extension has been added to the rear of a quaint heritage-listed cottage, set within a narrow, leafy suburban laneway. The design carefully responds to its sensitive context, balancing contemporary living requirements with the character of the original dwelling.
A key design approach was to echo the massing and scale of the existing cottage in the new rear living area, ensuring continuity between old and new. A low, flat and minimalist linking element mediates between the two forms, creating a subtle transition that preserves the cottage’s presence while introducing a clean, modern extension.

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South Australia Property Development Updates in 2018

7 Nov 2018
The Playful House in Brighton, Adelaide
Design: Martin Friedrich Architects

image Courtesy architecture office
The brief was to highly renovate their existing house largely from the 1980’s albeit was actually a renovation of a 1930’s house. They wanted to open up the small tight passages with low ceilings, create large spaces in the living zones and bring in light into this dark house.

16 Aug 2018
Adelaide Convention Centre
Design: Woods Bagot Architects

photo : Trevor Mein
A locally-driven design intent has delivered a building that not only responds to the local environment, but has become part of a wider place making strategy.

20 Jun 2018
SAHMRI 2 Building
Design: Woods Bagot Architects

image courtesy of architects
Concept images have been released of Australia’s newest clinical and research facility, in Adelaide’s growing health and biomedical precinct. SAHMRI 2 will house Australia’s first proton therapy unit for cancer treatment – the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research.

12 May 2018
Adelaide Contemporary Designs

image courtesy of architects
Adelaide Contemporary design proposals unveiled as six star teams compete for the chance to design a new South Australia landmark.

24 May 2018
Tonsley Main Assembly Building (MAB)
Architect: Woods Bagot with Tridente Architects
The internationally recognised adaptive reuse project Tonsley Innovation District has been selected as one of 15 Australian projects featured in the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Architettura 2018.
The exhibition highlights architectural strategies focused on repairing and regenerating the environment through design, with Tonsley serving as a key example of how former industrial sites can be transformed into productive, innovation-led precincts.

24 Jan 2018
Adelaide Contemporary shortlisted architects welcomed and competition jury announced
The six star design teams vying to win the Adelaide Contemporary International Design Competition were welcomed to Adelaide with an Aboriginal welcome by Kaurna Elder, Frank Wanganeen, earlier this week. Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia and Minister for the Arts, addressed them as they prepared for a site visit and briefing.
Adelaide Contemporary International Architecture Contest Shortlist News

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South Australia Property Designs from 2008 to 2017

12 Dec 2017
Adelaide Contemporary International Competition News

27 Dec 2017
d’Arenberg Cube

There are grander and more expensive cellar doors in the world, but for sheer originality and invention South Australia’s newly-opened d’Arenberg Cube is unrivalled.

photo courtesy of Creative Commons story from The Lead South Australia

For leading Australian winemaker Chester Osborn, pictured below, it’s the realisation of a 14-year dream, but for the McLaren Vale wine region 40km south of the South Australian capital of Adelaide, the Cube could bring tens if not hundreds of thousands more wine tourists to visit one of the world’s most unusual and dramatic cellar doors.

photo courtesy of Creative Commons story from The Lead South Australia

The five storey AUD$15 million glass-encased steel and concrete structure was inspired by Rubik’s Cube – an architectural puzzle four modules wide, four high – seeming to float above the entrance ground floor, and four deep. The architectural twist at the d’Arenberg Cube is that the two top floors are askew, rotated on their axis, just as if you’d twisted your Rubik’s Cube – which both architects and builders agree have made it the most difficult project on which they’ve ever worked.

Film on YouTube

As visitors approach the entrance there’s a haunting background sound, created by a local DJ but the instrument making it is a weather station. As the weather changes each of eight parameters (temperature, humidity and so on) talk to a unique musical playback system along a range of keys, tones and volume.

3 Nov 2017
Realm Apartments, Austin Street
Design: Elenberg Fraser Architects

image : Pointilism Architectural Visualisation
This 40 storey tower, 132 m high, will become the tallest residential building in the city. The geometric arrangement of perforated gold screens across the east and west façades provide solar and wind protection for the apartments, and balcony activation behind.

30 Oct 2017
Adelaide Botanic Gardens Wetland

photo : John Gollings
TCL’s Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens Wetland has won the 2017 Sustainability Award for Landscape and Urban Design. Located in the south-east corner of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens (ABG), the Wetland is a highly urbanised waterway near the centre of Adelaide.

19 Sep 2017
Adelaide Contemporary International Architecture Contest News

photo © davidwallphoto.com
The Government of South Australia is commissioning an international search for a world-class team to design the much-anticipated Adelaide Contemporary – a second site for the acclaimed Art Gallery of South Australia.

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18 Mar 2016
Flinders University Building in Adelaide – Plaza and Student Hub
Design: Mott MacDonald

image from architects practice
The new Plaza and Student Hub brings together student associations and clubs, a retail precinct, food and beverage outlets and 24-hour study and relaxation areas.

9 Feb 2016
SKYCITY Building Adelaide
Design: The Buchan Group

image from architecture firm
Planning Approval of the $300m expansion of SKYCITY Adelaide was recently granted. It will feature a luxury hotel, premium gaming spaces and additional signature restaurant options.

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21 Oct 2013
SAHMRI Building Adelaide
Design: Woods Bagot

16 Sep 2013
Royal Adelaide Hospital Design Competition
Design: Esan Rahmani / littleBIGdesignlab

image from architects office
Due to the relocation of the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital the South Australian government called for an international competition to take a fresh look at how the existing hospital site could be used.

29 Aug + 18 Jul 2013
RAH Design Competition Adelaide
The international design competition seeking innovative solutions for the current RAH site is now open for entries from registered architects and landscape architects.

25 Jan 2011
Tower 8 Adelaide
Design: Woods Bagot architects

image from Woods Bagot architects
The fundamental design philosophy of the architects has ensured that each façade responds to both its social and environmental context. Protruding transparent ‘pods’ on the Southern side enliven Franklin Street, and contribute to the site’s cultural activation: providing workers with enviable cityscape views, whilst allowing pedestrians to see the animated innerworkings of the commercial tower.