James McDowall

BArchDes (UQ), MArch (RMIT), BOAQ

Associate

James McDowall graduated with a Master of Architecture with Distinction from RMIT in Melbourne in 2013. He is a previous graduate of a Bachelor of Architectural Design from the University of Queensland in 2010, during which time he undertook a student exchange program at the University of California Berkeley Architecture School.

He received the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) Professional Practice Award in 2013, and its Architectural Services Award in 2015.

James worked at Brisbane practice Richards and Spence from 2011 to 2012, and at Content Studio in Victoria from 2015 to 2019 on primarily residential, preschool, kindergarten, and community centre projects.

He joined Blight Rayner Architecture in 2019 upon relocating from Melbourne to Brisbane to both enrich our design depth and bolster our design development and documentation teams.

James has extensive experience in the design development and documentation of office developments, notably 360 Queen Street in the Brisbane CBD and Jubilee Place in Fortitude Valley.

He was the project architect on the 79 Adelaide Street Office Tower refurbishment in the Brisbane CBD and worked extensively on the office headquarters fit out for Stadiums Queensland in Milton. He also worked extensively documenting the Glasshouse Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in South Bank.

James was appointed an Associate of Blight Rayner Architecture in 2025 and contributes to mentoring our architectural graduates in design and documentation techniques.