Kevin O’Brien (born 1972) is an architect practising in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. He is noted for drawing on

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

concepts of space in his work.

Early life and education

O'Brien was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. He graduated from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1995. In 2006, he studied Aboriginality and Architecture, gaining a Master of Philosophy under Paul Memmott.

Career

O'Brien also established Kevin O'Brien Architects (KOA) in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, and has completed architectural projects throughout several states in Australia. In 2000, he travelled around the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire. List ...

as a

Churchill Fellow Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

to investigate regional construction strategies in indigenous communities. O'Brien directed the Finding Country Exhibition at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012, and he was appointed as a Professor of Design at the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

. In 2014, he was a juror at the

Australian Institute of Architects The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...

' 2014 Brisbane Regional Architecture Awards. Kevin O'Brien Architects merged with BVN Architecture in 2018.

Notable projects

Finding Country Exhibition (2012)

O'Brien's "Finding Country" Exhibition, focused on the tension between concepts of City and Country in an Australian context, and was exhibited at the 13th International Architecture Exhibit in Venice, Italy in 2012. A large drawing highlighting the city method of title management (by labelling places such as parks or roads), was emptied through a 50% population reduction as a way into revealing Country as something found; the exhibition developed from discussions with Michael Markham in 2005.

Archibald Street House (2012)

Construction began on the Archibald Street House in August 2009, and reached practical completion in 2011. It is a two-storey residential building in Brisbane, which has a 3.5 kW solar power system that has produced enough energy to maintain a household of four. The building combines a house and a studio with a central courtyard. It is built using concrete and timber. Designed to minimise energy costs, the house efficiently uses new insulation techniques by employing water and solar collections. To achieve an effective energy consumption, the house was designed to make use of building orientation, ventilation access, thermal mass, insulation systems and energy-economical openings.

Woorabinda State School Library (2011)

This project began its construction in 2009, poured on site concrete tilt panels, with steel structure, and clear finished plywood linings in the interiors with the completion in 2011. It was noted as a regional commendation for public buildings. The Woollam construction team was led by Chris Battersby. In February 2013, O'Brien received the QLD Architecture Award: Central Queensland Regional Commendation.

Other projects

Awards

References

"Bethanga House / tUG workshop"
''ArchDaily''.

External links

Kevin O'Brien Architects

The University of Queensland, Australia, Stories from Indigenous Postgraduates, Kevin O’Brien

Robin Boyd Foundation, Zeitgeist l Lecture Series 2103, Kevin O’Brien

Architecture Australia, 2013 Brisbane – Queensland Regional Architecture Awards

Architecture Australia, 2013 National Architecture Awards: International
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Kevin 1972 births Living people Architects from Brisbane University of Queensland alumni