Saltair wins Brisbane Community Accommodation Award

We collected the award at a sold-out Master Builders Queensland ceremony at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on Friday 24 July, as the Housing & Construction Awards marked their 40th year celebrating the best of Queensland's building and construction industry.

Built on a 1,400m² allotment two blocks from the water, Bellara Community Residences comprises one two-bedroom High Physical Support (HPS) home and two one-bedroom Robust villas, each exceeding NDIS SDA Design Standard requirements while maintaining a warm, residential scale. Delivering two distinct SDA typologies on a single site meant meeting rigorous compliance and safety requirements without compromising the privacy and comfort residents and their families expect from a home, not a facility.

The build was documented for Channel 9's Epic Builds, which followed the project from first fix through to handover. “Two different SDA typologies, one site, and a standard of compliance that leaves no room for error – that's the challenge the cameras caught,” Saltair managing director Steve Bridger said. “What I'm proudest of is that none of that shows in the finished homes. They read as contemporary coastal houses, not a disability facility, and that was always the brief.”

Our team delivered generous circulation zones, widened doorways and customised accessible ensuites in the HPS dwelling to support mobility equipment and assistive technology, while the Robust villas use impact-resistant finishes and enhanced acoustic separation behind a refined residential aesthetic. We also built a fully separated Onsite Overnight Accommodation (OOA) facility to support 24/7 care, backed by integrated fire sprinkler systems and upgraded insulation and solar to improve thermal comfort and running costs for residents and operators alike.

For community housing providers, Bellara is a good example of why modular suits this sector so well. Building HPS and Robust dwellings in a controlled factory environment gives us tighter quality control and a repeatable, NDIS-compliant standard we can carry across future sites, while program certainty means providers can plan intake and funding with confidence. It also means less disruption for existing residents and neighbours during construction, and a faster path from approval to occupancy for people waiting on suitable housing.

“Community and specialist housing is some of the most technically demanding work we do, and some of the most rewarding,” Bridger said. “Bellara shows what's possible when good design and precise construction come together for residents who deserve exactly that.”

Watch the build on Epic Builds, Season 1, Episode 7

Read more about the Bellara Specialist Disability Accommodation project

See the full list of winners: Brisbane Housing & Construction Award Winners