Architect: Cox Architecture
Completion: 2025
QUAMPI, the Quandamooka Arts and Culture Centre, stands at Deanbilla Bay in Gumpi (Dunwich), overlooking Moreton Bay. Opened in 2025, the centre is the realisation of a decades-long ambition of the Quandamooka community, with initial designs dating back to Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
Co-designed by Cox Architecture and the Quandamooka people through a consultation process spanning more than seven years, QUAMPI embeds the voices of the Nunukul, Goenpul and Ngugui Peoples throughout its design. The centre takes its name from the local pearl oyster, a totem of the Quandamooka people and emblem of their seagoing heritage, with fragments of shell embedded in its walls.
The building integrates elements of land and sea, including native timbers and rammed earth made from sand recycled from the island’s former mining operations, while its colour palette draws on Minjerribah’s coloured sands, ochre clay and the hues of Moreton Bay. Two wings frame a central performance lawn opening to Deanbilla Bay, and a woven timber Elders’ space provides a place for storytelling and the sharing of knowledge.
Inside, QUAMPI features a regional-standard gallery, exhibition and workshop spaces, a generous open foyer, yarning circle, café and gallery shop. First Nations designed, owned and operated, the centre showcases Quandamooka arts and culture while welcoming First Nations artists from further afield, and stands as a powerful symbol of the island’s transition from sand mining to a future built on culture and creativity.