Student residence complex, St Lucia campus

UQ is building a second student residence complex at its St Lucia campus, which will provide an additional 1,018 student accommodation places on campus. 

The new complex, scheduled to open for Semester 2 2027, will be operated by UQ Res. 

Located on Walcott Street adjacent to Kev Carmody House, the purpose-built complex will provide UQ students from regional, remote and international destinations with competitively-priced accommodation.

Once completed, UQ students will have access to more than 4,500 purpose-built student accommodation places through UQ-owned accommodation and 10 affiliated residential colleges on our St Lucia campus. 

This page will be updated regularly with information about the project and upcoming works. 

See current works and how we're managing construction impacts below

On-campus home for students

The complex is a home away from home for students designed to promote community building, support student wellbeing and provide a positive environment to enhance their university experience. 

The complex will have 3 buildings, with a diverse mix of spaces for use by students. The buildings will be 6 to 10 storeys and are sympathetically designed in line with other surrounding accommodation buildings and the natural topography of Walcott Street.  

Managing construction impacts and maintaining safety

UQ acknowledges this is a large construction project and is committed to minimising the disruption to surrounding neighbours.  

A construction management plan is in place to ensure compliance with environmental and safety obligations, and minimise noise, dust and other disruptions where possible.    

A traffic management plan is in place to manage the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians in the area, as well as parking along Walcott Street and Coldridge Street. Changes include:

• Pedestrian detour on Walcott Street, between Sir Fred Schonell Drive and Hood Street. It is recommended that pedestrians use Hood Street, Services Road and Glasshouse Road. Signage is in place.  Walcott Street has never offered a designated pedestrian footpath.
• Reduced speed limit on Walcott Street of 40 kilometre per hour.
• Increased truck movements in and out of site. Traffic control is in place to ensure the safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians, and manage occasional traffic changes.
• No parking on Walcott Street between Sir Fred Schonell Drive and Hood Street. Signage is in place to indicate where parking is prohibited. Vehicles parked in the restricted area will have to be towed so that works can proceed.

During site establishment, vegetation was removed under the advice and guidance of an external arboriculturist, fauna spotter and in accordance with Brisbane City Council’s (BCC) Natural Assets Local Law 2003 permit. To offset the removal of trees from the site, the University will plant 28 native trees on campus and on project completion, the student residence will be landscaped to include native flora.

All works will be conducted in line with Brisbane City Council (BCC) guidelines. Where possible, this will Monday to Friday from 6.30am to 6.30pm. Saturday work is carried out as required.

Current works

The timing of works may change pending weather and ground conditions. 

Building structures – Ongoing from Q3 2025

Building footings and core structures are now in progress across the three buildings. This involves detailed excavation, formwork, steel reinforcement, and pouring concrete.

All works are being out in accordance with the construction management plan to minimise noise and dust as much as possible. Truck movements are managed in line with the traffic management plan.

An environmental consultant is on site to ensure waste is dealt with in accordance with legislation and the Soil Disposal Permit.

Water main installation – September/October 2025

A new water main connection needs to be installed beneath Walcott Street to supply water to the student residence complex site. 

Work commenced on Monday 29 September 2025 and is carried out between 5am to 6pm daily. Works are expected to be completed by Friday 17 October (subject to weather and site conditions) and updates will be provided via this webpage.  

While work is underway, a section of Walcott Street is temporarily closed to traffic between Glasshouse Road and Hood Street each day, with a detour via Glasshouse Road, Services Road and Hood Street. Traffic control is in place to direct motorists: 

• Traffic can still turn into Walcott Street from Sir Fred Schonell Drive. 

• Access will be maintained to nearby residences, including residential colleges, UQ Res, 48 Walcott Street, and the University Regiment, at all times. 

• The 4-hour Brisbane City Council parking zone on Walcott Street, near the sporting field, remains open. 

• The road is reopened to traffic at night. Steel plates are being used to provide a safe, level surface for vehicles to drive over, in line with standard practice. 

• Pedestrians should continue to use the existing detour via Glasshouse Road, Services Road and Hood Street at all times. 

There will be intermittent noise during these works. All works will be carried out in line with the construction management plan, with the aim to minimise noise as much as possible. 

Stormwater tank installation – September/October 2025

A stormwater detention tank will be installed on site near the Coldridge Street boundary, which will help to manage stormwater runoff during periods of heavy rainfall.

Work will be carried out from Monday 22 September 2025 for approximately 5 weeks.

To enable equipment access, approximately 7 car parks on Coldridge Street will be closed temporarily and a temporary pedestrian footpath will be established nearby to the existing path. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

Concrete pumping equipment – September/October 2025

Throughout September and October, electric concrete pumps, mounted on tower structures, will be installed to deliver concrete to buildings under construction.

All works will be contained to the construction site and limited impacts are expected, however the tower structures will be highly visible.

The towers will remain in place for the duration of the building works and will be a prominent feature of the site. Once operational, the pumps will generate typical construction noise, which is being managed in line with the construction management plan.

Contact

For enquiries about these planned works, email SRP2@uq.edu.au.

Artist impressions of the new student residences