Blight Rayner Architecture is very proud to have been awarded the 2025 Australian Urban Design Award for Mary’s Place in Dalby. The jury citation reads:

‘Mary’s Place demonstrates that an impressive outcome can be achieved with a clear place vision and high aspirations, a small budget and a willingness to tailor design to support local implementation. This place-specific design approach is a model for reviving local economies and strengthening community’.

We did really push the $3 million budget to the limit realising how important this project was to Dalby, especially as it replaces the town’s most beloved pub which burnt down in 2018. As a piece of urban design, the new public space is focused upon the significance of memory and sense of belonging, with several references in the architecture to the pub and its famed publican Mary Barry, and in the landscape to notions of rebirth and regeneration, including for the local Aboriginal clans.

We acknowledge the commitment of Western Downs Regional Council (Cecil Barnard and Michael Schmidt), our project team members (Ash Maharaj, Adelaide Hampson, Perry Gustafson, Alma Yulianisa, Sian Farrell) and our collaboration with Wild Studio and Firefly Point of View.