Queen Street, Brisbane
Queen Street is the main street of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. It is named after Victoria of the United Kingdom; the western part of the street is covered by a new plaza at the base of Brisbane Square and underneath part of the western half is the Queen Street bus station. Queen Street is built up with arcades, hotels and apartment high-rises such as MacArthur Central, Brisbane Square, Central Plaza, Aurora Tower, Treasury Casino, Broadway on the Mall, The Myer Centre and QueensPlaza. Queen Street is the location of Brisbane's General Post Office. Queen Street is the city's central road covered by a pedestrian mall called the Queen Street Mall, it is bounded by two of the Brisbane River's central reaches. Uptown at the top of the mall is George Street; the next street parallel to the south is Elizabeth Street, while Adelaide Street is the next parallel street to the north. Before 1842 and free settlement, Queen Street was a track leading from the main section of the early Moreton Bay Penal Colony, crossing a stream known as Wheat Creek with a deviation going up to the Windmill.
In early 1840, a surveyor named Dixon drew up a survey for the central Brisbane streets with all streets 66 feet wide. Changes were made to this plan with square blocks flattened into a rectangular grid with streets becoming 1.4 chains. On Governor Gipps' visit to Brisbane Town in March 1842, Gipps remarked that Brisbane Town was "simply an ordinary provincial settlement", which would need no grand avenues; as a result, Gipps moved the planned width of Queen Street, along with other streets, back to 66 feet, arguing that this change would mean that buildings could be kept out of the sun. There was compromise with the main street that would be known as Queen Street, with the western boundary's width changed to 1.2 chains. The first sitting of Legislative Assembly of Queensland in May 1860 occurred in the old converted convict barracks on Queen Street. In 1864, there were two significant fires along the street; the September 1864 fire started in the Little Wonder store on Edward Street which destroyed 14 shops in Queen Street.
This event became known as Bulcock's Fire. On 1 December 1864, the Great Fire of Brisbane started within the cellar of a Queen Street drapery store which burnt down buildings bordering Queen Street, as well as Albert Street, Edward Street, George Street and Elizabeth Street. Brisbane Courier described the fire as "the whole of the business premises and private residences...were, in a couple of hours, reduced to a heap of ruins". On 9 December 1882, a demonstration of electricity was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street. Power was supplied by a 10 hp generator driven by a small engine in a foundry in Adelaide Street; this was Australia's first recorded use of electricity for public purposes. In 1902, part of Queen Street was not paved or sealed although stormwater drainage was well maintained. Queen Street is significant as it contains MacArthur Central, the building in which the American General Douglas MacArthur had his South West Pacific headquarters during World War II and directed the Allied Forces campaign.
The former AMP building was renamed MacArthur Central as a tribute to General MacArthur. Tram services along Queen Street were converted to buses on 14 April 1969. There are many heritage-listed buildings in Queen Street, including: 21 Queen Street: Treasury Building 33 Queen Street: Bank of New South Wales Building 43 Queen Street: Trustees Chambers 62 Queen Street: Colonial Mutual Chambers 86 Queen Street: Palings Building 110 Queen Street: Allan and Stark Building 114 Queen Street: Gardams Building 116 Queen Street: Hardy Brothers Building 120 Queen Street: Edwards and Chapman Building 160 Queen Street: Brisbane Arcade 167 Queen Street: Regent Theatre 180 Queen Street: National Australia Bank 196 Queen Street: Finney Isles & Co Building 229 Queen Street: MacArthur Chambers 270 Queen Street: Sir William Glasgow Memorial 289 Queen Street: Newspaper House 299 Queen Street: National Mutual Life Building 308 Queen Street: National Australia Bank and its First World War Honour Board 424–426 Queen Street: Queensland Country Life Building facade 427 Queen Street: former Brisbane Customs House 443–501 Queen Street: Petrie Bight Retaining Wall 560 Queen Street: Orient Hotel North Quay / William Street George Street Albert Street Edward Street Creek Street Wharf Street / Eagle Street Adelaide Street Ann Street Road transport in Brisbane Media related to Queen Street, Brisbane at Wikimedia Commons
St Lucia, Queensland
St Lucia is a suburb within the City of Brisbane, Australia 6 kilometres southwest of the Brisbane CBD. The suburb sits on a peninsula, bounded on the north and south by a bend in the Brisbane river; the eastern third of the suburb is occupied by the main campus of The University of Queensland. The flat area on the northern side is medium to high density residential including numerous high-rise apartments on the river-front; the more hilly area in the centre and south is low-density residential. The south-west is occupied by the Saint Lucia golf links. St Lucia is a residential suburb and is regarded as one of the most affluent suburbs in Brisbane. For many years it was the third most expensive suburb behind Hamilton and Ascot and is still one of the top five most expensive suburbs in Brisbane today; the area was part of Indooroopilly and part of Toowong. Known as Indooroopilly Pocket, for a short time it was called Toowong South and part of the area was hived off as Lang Farm. Sugar plantations were established in the area in the 1860s.
William Alexander Wilson, born in St Lucia in the West Indies, purchased the Coldridge Plantation in 1882 and renamed it St Lucia Sugar Plantation. It was subdivided in 1883 for housing and the name was transferred to the subdivision. St Lucia is a green, leafy suburb with a variety of housing including apartment complexes and detached Federation styles and Queenslanders. St Lucia has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 12 Upland Road: Great Court, University of Queensland 38 Upland Road: Union College 99 Sir Fred Schonnel Drive: Vida and Jayne Lahey's House 396 Swann Road: Langer HouseAlthough never heritage-listed, one of St Lucia's most iconic homes was once the so-called The Pink Palace at 272 Swann Rd until it was demolished in 2015. St Lucia is home to a diverse range of individuals; the student population of St Lucia is high in dwellings in the immediate vicinity of the university, but the suburb is home to wealthy professionals and families. Houses and apartments in close proximity to the Brisbane River attract price tags in the millions.
In the 2016 census, St Lucia had a population of 12,574 people, an increase from 11,195 in the 2011 census. The median age of the St Lucia population was 15 years below the Australian median. Children aged under 15 years made up 8.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 8.3% of the population. The most notable difference was in the group aged between 15–24 years. 46.2% of people living in St Lucia were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%. 55.1% of people spoke only English at home. The most common response for religion in St Lucia was No Religion, followed by Catholicism %, "Not stated", Islam. In St Lucia, just over half of all households were family households, 21.7% were single person households and 28.3% were group households. The median weekly household income was $1,385, similar to the national median of $1,438; the University of Queensland is the main attraction of St Lucia, with the university, residential colleges covering a large proportion of the suburb.
Ironside State School, opened in 1870 is located on Hawken Drive and is the only primary school in the suburb. Several small shopping precincts are located throughout the suburb but otherwise the suburb is residential. St Lucia Golf Links is an 18-hole pay-and-play public golf course located on the corner of Indooroopilly Road and Carawa Street, St Lucia; the golf course is one of Brisbane's oldest and has hosted several Queensland Open and PGA tournaments. The layout suits golfers of all levels. By Bus, St Lucia can be accessed from the western suburbs and Brisbane CBD, with routes terminating at the University of Queensland. There is a NightLink service, a safety initiative which provides buses with security on board all night Fridays and Saturdays; the Eleanor Schonell Bridge, a dedicated bus/pedestrian/bicycle bridge, connects the University with Dutton Park and carries buses from the southern suburbs, CBD and Royal Brisbane Hospital to the Lakes Bus Station on St Lucia campus. By Ferry, The CityCat stops at two terminals in St Lucia, the Guyatt Park CityCat Terminal and University of Queensland Terminal.
By Bicycle, St Lucia has bicycle routes that utilise the residential streets between the University of Queensland and Toowong. By Road, St Lucia has three major thoroughfares; these are Sir Fred Schonell Drive and The Esplanade. University of Queensland: Queensland Places: St Lucia
The Mansions, Brisbane
The Mansions is a heritage-listed row of six terrace houses at 40 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Australia. It was designed by G. H. M. Addison and built in 1889 by RE Burton, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992. The architectural style is Victorian with Italianate influences; the Mansions, built in 1889 and located near Parliament House on the George Street ridge at the corner of Margaret Street, was designed by architect George Henry Male Addison as six attached elite masonry houses. Constructed by RE Burton for £11,700, it was an investment for three Queensland politicians - Boyd Dunlop Morehead Premier. Since the 1820s, the north bank and adjacent ridgeline of the Brisbane River, now containing William and George Streets, has always featured a concentration of government and associated activities and uses. Over the period of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, buildings constructed along this ridgeline, were used by government officials for "accommodation and control".
When the settlement was closed in 1842, the remnant penal infrastructure was used by surveyors as a basis for the layout for the new town of Brisbane. Set at right angles to the river, the prisoner's barracks determined Queen Street, while the line of buildings along the ridge determined William Street. Streets surveyed parallel to these streets including George Street, formed Brisbane's rectangular grid. While a range of buildings and activities occurred along George and William Streets from the 1840s, the government maintained its dominant presence in the area. At some sites earlier uses were continued; the establishment phase following the separation of Queensland in 1859 saw the new colonial government reserve land parcels and construct a range of buildings to facilitate its functions. The building of Government House and Parliament House along the eastern end of the George Street alignment in the 1860s entrenched the physical reality of a government precinct in the area; the siting of Parliament House had a pronounced effect on the built environment around lower George Street.
Many of Queensland's early politicians were pastoralists, a reflection of their economic dominance in the colony. Together with a growing workforce of public servants, these politicians required accommodation when in Brisbane. From the 1860s to the 1880s, a range of buildings, many built by, or for politicians, were built to address these needs. Throughout the 1880s Brisbane was transforming into a colonial city. Many of Queensland's immigrants remained in the capital, swelling the population from 40,000 in 1881 to well over 90,000 in 1891; this growth stimulated building, municipal organisation and services, cultural and leisure outlets. The flourishing building activity caused Brisbane's practising architects to treble in number, builders and contractors to rise from 16 in 1882 to 87 in 1887. Brisbane's centre sprouted a host of impressive new stone buildings including the Customs House, additions to the Government Printing Office, the first wing of the Treasury Building and the Alice Street facade of Parliament House.
The number of inhabited dwellings in the capital doubled between 1881 and 1891 from 5,814 to 10,321, causing the town to overshoot its old boundaries. Land speculation was extensive and the capital value of metropolitan land rose towards its peak in 1890, a level not approximated again until 1925; the land on which The Mansions was erected, lots 1 and 2 of Portion 38, was purchased as Town Lot 56 in 1852 by land speculator James Gibbon. By 1863 he had subdivided the land into three lots; the land was transferred in 1882 to William Williams, a successful Brisbane businessman associated with the Australian Steam Navigation Shipping Company. He in turn sold the vacant land in August 1888 to Pattison and Stevenson who were members of parliament, business associates and friends. BD Morehead was a pastoralist and politician who served in both the Queensland Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. With AB Buchanan he established BD Morehead and Co. in 1873 which comprised a mercantile and trading business and a stock and station agency.
He experienced financial disaster in the 1893 economic crisis. William Pattison, a businessman, mine director and politician, served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly between 1886 and 1893, he was one of the original shareholders and chairman of directors of the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company but was damaged politically and economically by the 50% collapse of the company's share price from mid-1888. John Stevenson was a pastoralist who bought into the firm of BD Morehead and Co. managing the stock and station business until 1896 when he formed the business J Stevenson and Co. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1875 to 1893; these three men engaged architect George Henry Male Addison to design a row of houses for the George Street site. Addison had moved from Melbourne to Brisbane and established a branch of Oakden and Kemp, which in 1888 won the competition to build a new exhibition hall for the National Agricultural and Industrial Association on Gregory Terrace.
Addison was an accomplished designer, his buildings stylistically eclectic and more ornately and finished than any seen in the city. The distinctive use of face brickwork relieved with stone or rendered detailing and steep dominant roof forms are
Transcontinental Hotel
Transcontinental Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 462-468 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1883 to 1884, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Transcontinental Hotel was constructed in 1883-4. In 1879 Peter Murphy and spirit merchant, leased premises in George Street from Francois Boudin. In 1881 he acquired the adjoining vacant land. On 28 August 1883 Peter Murphy publican and lessee of the Burgundy Hotel, financier of MacDonnell & East and Member of the Queensland Legislative Council, announced by public notice in The Telegraph his intention to apply for a new publican's license and to build a new hotel on this site. Intended to accommodate passengers from the nearby railway, the Transcontinental Hotel was to comprise "16 bedrooms, 1 dining room, 1 luncheon room, 1 billiard room, 4 sitting rooms, 2 bathrooms, store, pantry and outhouses". On 22 September 1883 renowned architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley called tenders for the erection of a first class hotel for Peter Murphy.
The new hotel, with a frontage of 74 feet and a depth of 40 feet, was four storeys high, one of, below street level. The Brisbane Courier reported that the Transcontinental Hotel contained 27 bedrooms, seven public rooms, billiard room and a private bar. A sunshade of "ornamental design" was attached to the front and the two upper storeys had balconies four feet, six inches wide, with "ornamental iron columns, brackets and railings"; the hotel offered comfortable accommodation, a first class table, with "all the delicacies of the season being provided". The bar trade was one of the largest in Brisbane, with only the best liquor carried. In the 1880s, George Street contained most of Brisbane's inner city first-class hotels, including the Bellevue Hotel, Shakespeare, Treasury Hotel, Imperial, Lennon's, Grosvenor Hotel, New Crown and the Transcontinental. Of these, the Treasury and Transcontinental are the only three to have survived. In 1906 new lessee Denis O'Connor commissioned architect, George Henry Male Addison to design extensive alterations to the interior.
At the opening ceremony of the new bar on 30 October 1906 the Transcontinental was declared to be "the most ornate and best equipped" hotel in Australia. In 1925 the hotel was further remodelled as part of Peter Murphy's redevelopment plans for upper George Street as a commercial precinct. Murphy's business acumen was realised by 1926 when upper George Street was declared to be "one of the most flourishing business" sectors outside of Queen Street and Fortitude Valley; the Murphy family owned the Transcontinental Hotel until 1935 when it was sold to Castlemaine Perkins. The McCoy family were licensees from the 1930s until the 1980s. In 1988 the hotel owners, commissioned Hampton Interiors to restore the Transcontinental; the ornate cast iron balustrading, removed in 1965, was reinstated and the original exterior colours were repainted. This Victorian era hotel located near the intersection of George and Roma Streets features filigree cast iron lacework, reinstated onto the original cast iron verandah posts.
It is of rendered brick construction with three storeys on the George Street facade and a fourth level basement. The basement walls are Brisbane Tuff stonework; the George Street facade has a post supported curved corrugated iron awning over the footpath, balconies on the upper two levels. Eight pairs of French-lights open onto the balconies on each level; the first floor is emphasised by having a greater balcony height than the top floor. The topmost balcony has a curved corrugated iron roof hipped at the ends; the building is crowned with a decorative parapet which includes the name "TRANSCONTINENTAL HOTEL" in raised lettering and a curved central parapet section bearing the date 1884 in a circular recess. Although the building has been restored externally, its internal refurbishment, involving the removal of fittings and the creation of a large internal space, does not convey the impression of a Victorian Hotel, its prominent location and the intact nature of its external Victorian detailing make this building a notable landmark in this area of Brisbane.
Transcontinental Hotel was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history. Built near Roma Street railway station, the Transcontinental Hotel is important in illustrating the important role of hotels in providing accommodation for Queensland travellers in the late 19th century, it provides rare surviving evidence of the former importance of George Street as a late 19th century accommodation precinct. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places; the Transcontinental is a typical example of an 1880s era boom era hotel in Brisbane's central business district, displaying filigree cast iron lacework and a post supported street awning. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance, it has aesthetic significance as a prominent part of the streetscape at the intersection of George and Roma Streets.
The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The Transcontinental Hotel is significant for its strong association with Peter Murphy, Member of the Legislative Council and George Street property speculator, from 1881 until 1925; this Wikipedia article was based on
McDonnell & East Ltd Building
McDonnell & East Ltd Building is a heritage-listed former department store at 414 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Australia. It was built from 1912 to 1928 by Andrew Gillespie, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 10 December 1997. This three-storeyed brick department store building was erected in several stages between 1912 and 1963, for the Brisbane firm of McDonnell & East Ltd. In 1886, Irishmen Frank McDonnell and Hubert East emigrated to Brisbane, where they were employed in the drapery trade. From 1889, McDonnell was connected with the movement for the early closing of shops, he entered Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1896 as the Labour member for Fortitude Valley, due to his efforts, early closing was introduced in 1900. In October 1901, the firm of McDonnell & East Ltd was established and, with the financial backing of businessman and publican Peter Murphy, owner of the Transcontinental Hotel, the firm purchased John Reid's drapery business, the lease of the premises, at 402-408 George Street.
Within six years McDonnell & East Ltd was well established as a firm of importers, cash drapers, outfitters and milliners. About 1908, Jack McDonnell and Fraser and Harry East, sons of the founders, entered the firm. In 1911, McDonnell & East Ltd acquired the adjoining George Street allotments to the corner of Tank Street, in October 1911 Brisbane architect Thomas Ramsay Hall called tenders for a new brick building; the contract was let to Andrew Gillespie with a price of £10,734, which included electrical fittings, counter and passenger lift. Construction began in January 1912, the new building, advertised as the White Store, was occupied in April 1913; the company continued to lease the original building. Following the success of the White Store, which doubled profits within a year, the company purchased a contiguous block in Tank Street, behind the new showrooms, in 1913. In mid-1914 TR Hall again called tenders for a store for McDonnell & East Ltd, the contract was let to New Farm builder Mark Doggett, with a price of £1,310.
This building was completed late in 1914, but it is not clear whether it remains as part of the present complex. The business flourished, assisted by the re-location of the Brisbane Markets to Roma Street in 1915, the proximity of the tram stops in George Street and the Roma Street railway station, which brought custom. McDonnell & East Ltd became a public company in 1920. Between c. 1917 and 1921, McDonnell & East Ltd acquired another three adjacent sites: a property in Turbot Street. In the mid-1920s, architects Thomas Ramsay Hall and George Gray Prentice designed substantial three-storeyed extensions for these sites; the work was carried out by contractor Francis Joseph Corbett, who started in late 1925 and finished in March 1928. The original leased premises, fronting George Street, were demolished and replaced with a three-storeyed extension of the 1912 building. A separate but adjoining three-storeyed building was erected on the Tank Street sites; the extensions conformed with the 1912 street elevations, featured the latest fittings and modern conveniences.
At the same time, new shop fronts were installed in the corner building by contractors Robertson & Corbett. The founders of the firm just lived to see the extensions completed: Hubert East died in May 1928, Frank McDonnell followed him six months later. Fraser East and Jack McDonnell took over as joint managing directors; the renovations and extensions, which cost £35,000 boosted the status of McDonnell & East Ltd and George Street as a trading centre. The design allowed for further additions in Tank Street, but the Great Depression and World War II thwarted this proposal; the George Street Post Office was located in the McDonnell & East Ltd building from 27 July 1931 until 28 September 1990. The area was let to the Postmaster General's Department free of charge for the first ten years, with the fittings supplied by the store; the office was manned by PMG staff. After the Second World War business flourished once again, by 1967 McDonnell & East Ltd had purchased all the property fronting Tank Street to North Quay.
The site in Tank Street adjoining the 1928 building was acquired in 1950. It contained a two-storeyed building, into which East Ltd expanded. In 1960 this building was reconstructed as a three-storeyed extension of the McDonnell & East Ltd store. No attempt was made to design a street facade to conform with the 1912-1928 building. A large, free customer car park, occupying most of the remainder of McDonnell & East Ltd's property at the rear of the store, was constructed in stages between about 1956 and 1969; this no longer survives. Substantial renovations were carried out in the 1960s: the street level windows were remodelled in 1960; the Queensland Room Coffee Lounge and Gallery was opened in 1965, won an international award for a community service project in a retail store. In 1984, McDonnell & East Ltd was taken over by an investment group, but the family name was retained; the chain was in financial difficulties by 1990, the Garden City Upper Mount Gravatt, Westfield Shoppingtown Toombul, Rockhampton Shopping Fair, Neran
Family Services Building
Family Services Building is a heritage-listed office building at 171 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Australia. It was designed by George Gerald Hutton and built from 1914 to 1922, it is known as former Administration Building, Queensland Government Insurance Building, Queensland Government Savings Bank. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. Brisbane's first high-rise government office building was constructed between 1914 and 1922, it was intended as general public offices, but more as state headquarters for the enormously successful Queensland Government Savings Bank, established in 1864. Bank headquarters had occupied a purpose-designed banking chamber and offices in the second wing of the Treasury Building from early 1893. By 1912 these premises were no longer adequate. In consequence, the Queensland Government decided to construct a separate and substantial building on the opposite corner of George and Elizabeth Streets, as new bank headquarters.
George Gerald Hutton, assistant architect in the Queensland Government Architect's office from 1913–22, is credited with the design. It is Hutton designed the sculpture, representing commerce and industry, on the George Street elevation; this and the royal coat of arms on the George-Elizabeth Street corner were carved in 1920 by Sydney sculptor William Priestly MacIntosh, who had carved an allegorical sculpture for the former Executive Building in 1903-04. The shields of the parapet were carved by local masons under MacIntosh's supervision. Site excavation and the concrete foundations were completed in 1913-14, at a cost of £6,149. In 1914 the contract for the superstructure was let for £113,567, construction commenced that year. A shortage of structural steel prolonged the work, completion took close to eight years. Before the building was finished, the Queensland Labor Government transferred the business and assets of the state bank to the Commonwealth Bank, on 8 December 1920; the nearly completed, purpose-designed Queensland state bank headquarters building was fitted out for the Queensland Government Insurance Office.
By 1921 the offices had been renamed the Queensland Government Insurance Building. It was completed and occupied by mid-1922, with the State Government Insurance Office occupying the basement and first to third floors. Other first occupants included the State Land Tax Office, the State Industrial Arbitration Court, the Public Service Commissioner, the Public Curator and the Main Roads Board. Most of these had removed from cramped quarters in the Treasury Building opposite. Accommodated on the roof was the State Time Station's observing room. From 1925-26 Queensland's first official radio broadcaster, the Queensland Radio Service and station 4QG, established in July 1925, were located in rooms on the roof of the Queensland Government Insurance Building; this necessitated the installation of large aerials on the roof, which were not removed until after 1945. Both 4QG and the Postmaster General's radio station broadcast from the building during the 1930s. From 1930 to 1932, 4QG was part of Australia's first national radio network, the owned Australian Broadcasting Company Ltd.
In mid-1932 the licence was transferred to the federal government's newly created Australian Broadcasting Commission. In 1931 the SGIO removed to other premises and the building was occupied principally by the Land and Income Tax Department. Despite income tax being transferred to federal control c.1943, the office block was known as the Taxation Building until 1962. In 1947 the original lift and concrete staircase in the George Street vestibule were removed, replaced with a pair of lifts. In 1962 the building was occupied by the Co-ordinator-General's Department and renamed the Administration Building. With the new tenancy, the George Street vestibule was refitted and the original lift in the Elizabeth Street vestibule was replaced. From 1963 to 1984 the Health Department was a principal occupant of the Administration Building. Since 1988 the building has been occupied by Family Services, takes its name from this department. In 1990 the Elizabeth Street vestibule was refurbished; the building situated at the corner of George and Elizabeth Streets consists of eight storeys, a basement and rooms on the roof level.
The structure, a concrete encased steel frame with brick infill and reinforced concrete floors, is faced on the two street facades with Helidon sandstone sitting on a granite base. The northeast and southeast elevations are constructed of brick with reinforced concrete heads and sills; the building which overlooks Queens Gardens to the southwest forms part of the group of important government buildings, including the Lands Administration Building, the Treasury Building and the Old State Library, which surround the park. The Elizabeth and George Street facades are divided vertically, by projecting stone cornices, into three parts; these are a podium level consisting of the double height ground floor and the first level of offices, a five storeyed middle section and the top floor of the building surmounted by a parapet wall. At the corners of the street elevations pavilions, distinguished by banded rustication, extend from the ground floor to the parapet; the podium level is marked by banded rustication.
In the centre of the George Street elevation on the podium level is an arched open-bed semicircular pediment supporting a sculpture group that consists of two figures on either side of a shield. The division between the middle and top section of the George Street elevation is embellished by an open-topped semicircular pediment. Steel windows frames and sashes are used throughout the building. Pavement lights are located
Treasury Building, Brisbane
The Treasury Building previously known as the New Public Offices, is an heritage-listed former government public administration building located at 21 Queen Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Australia. It was built from 1886 to 1928 for the Queensland Government. On 21 October 1992 the Italian Renaissance style building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register; the building is located near the northern end of Victoria Bridge. Although fronting on Queen Street, the building occupies an entire city block surrounded by Queen Street, George Street, Elizabeth Street and William Street; the Elizabeth Street frontage is opposite the Queens Gardens. In the 1890s and early 1900s the imposing Treasury Building served as a symbol of self-government and as a focus for celebratory and patriotic displays, it is occupied by the Treasury Casino owned by Star Entertainment Group. The Treasury Building was erected in three stages between 1886 and 1928; the site at the junction of the George Street and Queen Street had been reserved for government purposes from 1825.
It was occupied by convict-built officers' quarters and a two-storey military barracks. In 1864 the military moved from the site and the existing buildings were occupied by the Registrar-General and Engineer of Harbours. In 1874 a single-storeyed building for the Registrar-General was erected on the corner of George and Queen Streets, anticipating a government re development of what had become known as Treasury Square. In 1883 the Queensland Government decided to construct new public offices on Treasury Square. A design competition, for a two-storeyed perimeter block to occupy the entire square, was won by Melbourne architects Grainger and D'Ebro, but their design was never used; the newly-appointed Queensland colonial architect, John James Clark, argued that the site warranted a four-storeyed complex, to be erected in stages as government accommodation was required. Clark's own neo-Italianate design, entered in the competition prior to his appointment as Queensland colonial architect in September 1883, was used.
Clark is significant in Australian architectural history. He received his training and experience in the architectural office of the Victorian Department of Public Works, designed major public buildings in Victoria and Western Australia. Documentation for the first stage of the Treasury Building, which fronted William Street and the Brisbane River and returned a short distance down Elizabeth and Queen Streets, was completed by mid-1885, site preparation followed immediately. Tenders for the main contract were called in April 1886, Sydney builders Phippard Bros & Co. were successful with a contract price of £94,697/10/-. The principal architect on site was Thomas Pye, who resigned from the colonial architect's office in February 1887 to supervise the construction as a Phippard Bros employee; when completed in September 1889, the new centre of government administration in Queensland was occupied by the Premier, Colonial Secretary, Registrar-General, Mines, Works and Auditor-General. It was home to the Cabinet and to the Executive Council from late 1889 to 1905.
In 1905 the Premier's Department moved into the Executive Building in George Street. Stage two, which completed the Elizabeth Street section and continued two-thirds of the way along the George Street frontage, was commenced immediately; the documentation and working drawings were prepared by Thomas Pye, re-employed by the colonial architect's office to supervise the project. Tenders were called in April 1890, the principal contract was let to builder John Jude of Adelaide, with a contract price of £67,000; the contract was completed by February 1893 and the new wing was occupied in the middle of that year by the Registrar of Titles, Works, Public Instruction and the State Savings Bank, for whom a purpose-built banking chamber was included in the design which in all other details replicated stage one. In 1893 the courtyard was landscaped with a grass oval surrounded by a gravel carriageway, border planting, trees; the site consisted of stages one and two of the Treasury Building, the 1874 office of the Registrar-General.
In the 1890s and early 1900s the imposing Treasury Building served as a symbol of self-government and as a focus for celebratory and patriotic displays. In 1901, the proclamation of the Federation of Australia was read by the Governor of Queensland Baron Lamington from a balcony on the William Street elevation. Owing to the construction around the turn of the century of new offices for the Department of Agriculture and the Executive Building, which provided additional Queensland Government accommodation, work on the third stage of the Treasury Building was not started until 1922; the Registrar-General's building was demolished late 1922/early 1923, construction commenced in mid-1923, using day labour. This was deliberate government encouragement of state enterprise, as was the government acquisition of Millers Quarries at Helidon to provide the stone; the front elevation of the third section differed only from Clark's original concept, although structurally and in internal materials and fittings it was a 1920s building.
It was completed and opened in 1928 at a final cost of £137,817, providing expanded accommodation for existing Treasury Building tenants. In the 1950s, demand for further accommodation led to the construction in 1961 of a five-storeyed annex in the courtyard. In 1971 the Treasury and Works Departments moved to the new Executive B
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