Houses near Cotton Tree Housing Estate, Maroochydore

This pilot project at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, on two adjacent, linear parcels of land has one of the properties privately owned while the other is owned by the public housing authority. Both owners commissioned Lindsay and Kerry Clare to design housing for their separate needs which enabled the two projects to be governed by a single planning and design strategy. This entailed the realignment of the dividing boundary to form two approximately square blocks which made possible the retention of an important stand of mature paperbark trees and gave each block a more useful street frontage. The scheme provides seven two-bedroom units and one single-bedroom unit as the private component, with six single-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units forming the public housing. The dwellings are deployed as an interlaced mat of freestanding blocks, car courts, courtyard gardens, patios and decks. The key distinction between the public and private parts of the scheme is the pooling of the car parking spaces in the public housing to create a shared courtyard. The housing climbs to three storeys on its southern edge and falls to a single storey on the north-western corner. This enables all units and the principal private outdoor spaces to have a northern orientation. The interiors of both the public and private units are skilfully arranged to take full advantage of views, light and breeze.

Holiday houses, Judge House, Camp Island

As seen from hill behind.

Innovation in Queensland firms: implications for the smart State

The challenges in the business environment are forcing Australian firms to be innovative in all their efforts to serve customers. Reflecting this need there have been several innovation policy statements both at Federal and State government level aimed at encouraging innovation in Australian industry. In particular, the innovation policy statement launched by the Queensland government in the year 2000 primarily intends building a Sman State through innovation. During the last few decades the Australian government policy on innovation has emphasized support for industry R&D. However industry stakeholders demand a more firm-focused policy of innovation. Government efforts in this direction have been hindered by a lack of a consistent body of knowledge on innovation at the firm level. In particular the Australian literature focusing on firm level antecedents of innovation is limited and fragmented. This study examines the role of learning capabilities in innovation and competitive advantage. Based on a survey of manufacturing firms in Queensland the study finds that both technological and non·technological innovations lead to competitive advantage. The findings contribute to the theory competitive advantage and firm level antecedents of innovation. Implications for firm level innovation strategies and behaviour are discussed. In addition, the findings have important implications for Queensland government's current initiatives to build a Smart State through innovation.