Drawn to life of own design
SOLE OPERATOR OF HIS OWN AWARDWINNING DESIGN BUSINESS, ROD BUTLAND HAS ADAPTED TO CHANGING TECHNOLOGY AND RIDDEN OUT THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE CAIRNS ECONOMY, WRITES ALICIA NALLY
ROD Butland has been good at drawing ever since he was a kid.
It’s no wonder the serendipitous combination of skill and ambition led to a 25-year career at the head of Buck Design, which provides design services for everything from residential homes to multi-residential, warehouses, industrial premises and commercial buildings.
Two of the 65-year-old’s recent designs – the new NQ Petro headquarters and a Reece plumbing shed – were recognised at the Building Designers’ Association of Queensland awards last week.
He will watch the livestream of the national awards to see if his designs – now “playing with the big boys” – will get a mention.
“I’ve won some state awards and I did win a national award in 2005 for an extension on a house in Clifton Beach,” Mr Butland said. “It was a funny job – it solved four problems for the owner. They’re the ones you enjoy the best, the ones that have a bit of thought behind them.
“I do all sorts of stuff. There’s so many of them. I was standing outside NQ Petro
TWO OF THE 65-YEAROLD’S RECENT DESIGNS — THE NEW NQ PETRO HEADQUARTERS AND A REECE PLUMBING SHED — WERE RECOGNISED AT THE BUILDING DESIGNERS’ ASSOCIATION OF QUEENSLAND AWARDS LAST WEEK
and the building across the road I did; the one just down a bit further, I did that one too.
“I left school at 15 and because I was very good at tech drawing at school – I was neat and I was fast – I started working as a draftsman, and with further studies, I progressed to building design.
“I was approached by a client to do some work outside of my job when I was about 40 and that client is still one of my clients. It was a decent job and I felt it was right and so I started Buck Design.
“Our designs vary from the simplest to the most modern. They will comply with energyefficient standards but still be ready for the future.”
Taking his school nickname as the name for the business – classmates at Balaclava State School and then Trinity Bay State High often thought he was saying “Buckland”, not “Butland” – the sports and horseracing fan has never looked back.
The family moved to Cairns when Mr Butland was two after his father was transferred to the Far North from Bowen with the railways.
Mr Butland’s two younger sisters were born in Cairns – one now lives on the Tablelands, the other in Brisbane.
A husband to Judith and fa
ther of 14-year-old Georgia, Mr Butland said building a good, loyal client base and investing in professional development was the cornerstone of a successful design business.
“I’m still the sole operator of the business and that gives me a lot more freedom outside of work,” he said. “Cairns being a tourist town has ups and downs, and surviving those has been the biggest challenge, but my loyal clients have got me through every time.
“Professional development has been a good thing. I’m always looking for a new challenge. Building designers in
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN A GOOD THING. I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A NEW CHALLENGE.
ROD BUTLAND
Cairns, we do share, we do tend to help each other.
“I had to get a young bloke to mentor me in computeraided design and drafting. I employed him to do a job and I said, ‘I will show you how to do the structural side of things and you help me with CAD’ and he was willing to help. He pointed me in the right direction.
“That was one of the big things in my career – changing from freehand to computer drawing. I still pick up drawings from 50 years ago, and tell people ‘I drew that by hand’ and people are surprised.”
Working from a home office these days, Mr Butland said accessing materials was another big challenge for building designers and builders in the Far North.
“You either can’t get it or you can get it but it takes time to get here and it costs an arm and a leg. (Often) you do a building and it doesn’t come off or you have to change because of the cost,” he said. “Regulations have changed as well and they’re forever going to change. All the changes cost money for the client and it is because of our cyclone ratings.
“The cost of living is a big thing up here too. I did a lot of travelling in the 1980s, I worked in London twice – that was good, I was appreciated over there – but a lot of people used to say to me, ‘how can you afford to travel?’.
“I’d tell them, ‘well, it’s more expensive up here in Cairns than in Brisbane’.”