Real-time test validates decade of flood resilience design work
Building a better future for all. It’s at the heart of the ethos of Woolloongabba-based architecture and design practice JDA Co.
And it’s not empty rhetoric. Following Queensland’s devastating floods of 2011, JDA Co began pioneering work to build local flood resilience.
Partnering with Brisbane City Council (BCC), JDA Co developed Australia’s first Flood Resilient Homes Program (FRHP) to help residents prepare for, live through and recover from flooding, which affects more than half of Brisbane’s suburbs.
Eligible residents received a free assessment by JDA Co’s flood-resilience experts followed by modification recommendations, including works to increase the flood resilience of a property such as retrofitting and house raising.
Works were designed by JDA Co and undertaken by licensed builders and, in most cases, at no additional cost to the property owner.
In 2020 JDA Co’s pioneering work won the Resilient Australia Business Award, however, none of their work had been tested in real time.
That all changed in February 2022 when major flooding across south-east Queensland put JDA Co’s decade of flood resilience work to the test.
In a resounding testament to JDA Co’s design resilience strategies, most homes retrofitted under the FRHP withstood major damage.
Detailed surveys of 70 property owners who suffered flood impacts to their property resulted in 45 owners reporting the resilience works were successful.
Some homeowners were able to wash out, dry out, and move back in within a few days, others within weeks – a very different situation to some of their neighbours who endured rebuilds lasting more than 18 months.
Significantly, BCC reported 91 per cent of FRHP participants provided positive feedback on the improved resilience of their property.
Homeowners cited several benefits including a 70 per cent reduction in insurance premiums, being able to return to their homes much sooner post disaster, reduced repair costs, and a reduction in building material waste.
In a flow-on effect, the financial benefit of lower insurance premiums has driven an uptake of flood-resilient design.
Originally done on a pro-bono basis, JDA Co’s work has evolved into benchmark programs with significant, life-changing outcomes for Australians living in flood risk zones.
In 2022 the Queensland Government’s $741 million Resilient Homes Fund (RHF) superseded the FRHP, with JDA Co appointed lead technical advisor to manage the program’s roll-out.
To date the RHF program has benefitted more than 6,800 flood affected homes across 39 local government areas.
The success of the pilot program also saw it grow into the New South Wales state government’s RHF program, with JDA Co appointed lead technical advisor in 2023.
JDA Co’s commitment to improving the resilience of homes for flood and other disasters includes authoring several flood resilience design guides and philanthropic work to assist disadvantaged and disaster-stricken homeowners in some of the worst-affected and most vulnerable areas of Brisbane and Ipswich.
JDA Co’s devotion to building resilience was recognised when they were named winners of the Business category at the 2023 Resilient Australia Awards, which acknowledges the importance locally-led organisations play in communities when faced with natural disasters.
Typical of JDA Co’s humility, they see the award as furthering their mission to build Australia’s disaster resilience by adapting homes to withstand flood and other climate-related impacts, and to create a better future for all.
