Brisbane Open House is proud to count Blight Rayner among its Practice Partners. The Brisbane-based studio has had a hand in some of the city’s most recognisable recent work, and this year they are deeply involved with the Brisbane Open House programming.
Co-founded by Jayson Blight and Michael Rayner, Blight Rayner works across civic, cultural, commercial and sporting projects. The practice designed the Kangaroo Point Bridge, which took out the 2025 Queensland Architecture Medallion, the state’s highest architectural honour. Their practice pairs a strong design sensibility with a clear interest in how buildings shape public life.
For 2026, three Blight Rayner buildings open across the weekend, joined by a panel discussion that goes behind one of them. Here is what to look out for.
360 Queen Street
Designed by Blight Rayner and developed by Charter Hall and Investa, 360 Queen Street is Brisbane’s newest premium office tower. Completed in 2025, it spans 45,000 square metres across 33 levels in the heart of the city’s Golden Triangle, setting a new benchmark for workplace experience by bringing wellness, sustainability and nature together in one building.
Inside are generous arrival spaces, a retail laneway, an integrated business hub and wellness centre, and a series of mixed-mode wintergardens and landscaped terraces. Its environmental credentials are equally considered, with a Platinum WELL Core and Shell rating, Climate Active carbon neutral certification, a 6 Star Green Star rating and 100 per cent green power across base building energy.
360 Queen Street is open to the public on both Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July, from 9am to 1pm, with general access and guided tours running on the hour from 9am to 12pm.
Glasshouse Theatre at QPAC
The Glasshouse Theatre is one of the most talked-about additions to Brisbane’s cultural landscape. Designed by Blight Rayner in collaboration with Snøhetta of Oslo, it opened in March 2026 and made the Queensland Performing Arts Centre the largest performing arts centre under one roof in Australia.
Its curved glass façade has quickly become a landmark, its waves and ripples echoing the adjacent Brisbane River as well as the soft folds of theatre drapes and stage curtains. The material palette draws directly on Queensland: locally sourced grey Ironbark timber, a green auditorium carpet that references the state’s rainforests, and ochre foyer carpet with sand-coloured precast concrete that nods to its beaches. In the entry plaza stands Brian Robinson’s Floriate, a four-metre bronze sculpture inspired by Queensland’s native flora and its connection to First Nations peoples.
The Glasshouse Theatre is open on Sunday 19 July, from 9am to 2pm. The foyers are open to the public without a ticket, while 45-minute backstage guided tours run between 9.20am and 11.40am and must be reserved in advance.
National Rugby Training Centre
At Ballymore in Herston, the National Rugby Training Centre shows Blight Rayner working in a very different register. Completed in 2023, this high-performance facility is home to the Queensland Reds men’s and women’s teams, the Reds Academy and the Wallaroos, the Australian women’s team.
It brings together a 750 square metre gym, an aquatic recovery centre and a 3,010-seat stand, with a composition of angular, almost origami forms that ties the roofscape to the grandstand and the ground. Where many high-performance facilities keep their components separate, here the spaces open onto one another, fostering a shared sense of purpose among players, coaches and administrators.
The building has been widely recognised, with 2025 Queensland Awards from the Australian Institute of Architects for both Public Architecture and Interior Architecture. Blight Rayner is also preparing a master plan for the wider Ballymore precinct.
Panel discussion: 360 Queen Street
To go deeper on the thinking behind the tower, Brisbane Open House is hosting a panel discussion on Saturday 18 July, from 10.30am to 11.30am, in the Level 1 Business Hub at 360 Queen Street. Jayson Blight of Blight Rayner is joined by Chris Butters (CBRE), Greg Atkinson (RCP) and Bradley Norris (Charter Hall) to discuss how a building of this scale comes together, from design vision through to delivery. Seating is limited to 80, so booking ahead is recommended.