About

Brisbane Open House (BOH) is a free annual event providing residents and visitors with the rare opportunity to discover the hidden wealth of architecture, engineering and history in buildings and places around Brisbane city.

Selected buildings are open to the public with guided and self-guided tours encouraging visitors to explore, re-examine and engage with Brisbane’s built environment. The experience opens people’s eyes and minds to good design and curious spaces.

The inaugural Brisbane Open House was launched in 2010 with great success, attracting more than 12, 500 visits. Each year, the event has continued to grow and in 2019, our tenth anniversary, BOH attracted 80,000 visits across 119 sites. 

In 2020 and 2021 the impact of Covid changed the way we did things. We created year-round offerings for smaller groups of participants. In 2022, with the advent of in-person activities again, we made some exciting changes to our well-loved event with the introduction of an Iconic Precinct to our BOH weekend and the addition of an annual Villages of Brisbane [VOB] event. In 2023 our Iconic Precinct showcased the heritage gems and state-of-the-art medical labs of Herston Health & Heritage and in 2024 our event was geo-focused in and around the central city and New Farm, allowing participants to explore a range of buidlings, events and tours predominantly on foot.

Brisbane Open House will return on 19+20 July 2025 with our biggest event in five years. With more than 90 buildings and 50 events, there will be plenty to see and do so make sure to sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about all our upcoming event.

Our objectives

Transformative interactions and raised awareness

• Positively transform interactions of residents and visitors with the city of Brisbane
• Uncover stories, experiences, and places within the city to foster civic pride and engagement
• Provide access to significant public and privately-owned buildings
• Engage with the urban spaces that occur between our buildings
• Build the Cultural Capital of the city

Explore and promote:

• Contemporary and historic architectural and urban/suburban attractions
• Well-designed built environment settings, including environmentally, economically, and culturally sustainable design in our subtropical city
• The diverse professions who contribute to, create and protect Brisbane’s architectural and design attractions
• Brisbane on a national and international stage as a design capital and a creative hub

Image credit: Auchenflower House. Photo: Joanne Thies 2019.