Barns Lane Farm

Location Coolum, QLD (Kabi Kabi Country)
Client Into Property
Value $30 million
Size 7.5 ha
Status DA/ Detailed Design underway
Project Type Tourism & Culture

“This has become a passion project for us. As architects, it is exciting to create settings with hospitality and retail on one site.”
Michael Bailey / Project Director

Barns Lane Farm was conceived as the Sunshine Coast's most significant tourism destination — a paddock-to-plate farm experience weaving together cultural exchange, education, hospitality, and retail on a single 7.5-hectare site on Kabi Kabi Country.

Open Architecture Studio worked closely with Into Property and Sunshine Coast Council to develop the master plan and concept for this ambitious agritourism destination. The design centred on a rich visitor experience that connects people to their food and shares knowledge about sustainable agriculture — values that shaped the project from the ground up.

Wellbeing and environmental performance were embedded throughout. Walkable pathways, generous green space, and biophilic design strategies were conceived to immerse visitors in the landscape rather than simply pass through it. Passive environmental design principles informed the building forms, while the overall precinct was approached as a sustainable urban system — one that regenerates rather than depletes the ecosystems it inhabits.

Multiple buildings, set across the landscaped site, use varied roof forms and a predominant palette of steel and timber to evoke the vernacular character of a working farm — creating an authentic sense of place rooted in the Sunshine Coast region.

As a gateway to the wider region, the proposal was critical in gaining council support for the development of a contentious site, with the design actively supporting local producers and manufacturers by providing spaces to introduce consumers directly to their products — driving regional economic prosperity and reinforcing Barns Lane Farm's potential as a cultural and commercial hub for the community.