Brisbane Open House has announced its largest-ever program for 2017.
In addition to 70 buildings that have previously been featured, this year will see 29 new buildings throwing open their doors as part of the Open House weekend program.
Like in previous years, the featured buildings represent a broad cross-section of housing typologies. Everything from heritage homes to contemporary commercial architecture – from ice cream factories to fire stations – will be made open to the general public, some for the first time in their history.
A photography competition, speaker series, concerts and other special events will supplement the Open House weekend tour program.
Brisbane Open House 2017 will take place from 7 to 8 October. Below, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite buildings from this year’s program.
Full program here.
1 William St
A major catalyst project for the city’s waterfront precinct, the new commercial office tower at 1 William Street is jointly owned by Cbus Property and ISPT. The imposing building was designed by Woods Bagot to accommodate the Queensland Public Service. Positioned on the banks of the winding Brisbane River, the architectural form of the tower invites an abstraction of the continuous, sinuous line of the river. A lustrous, glazed facade, the tower’s cladding reflects and changes with the time of day and quality of sunlight, adjusting to seasonal and climatic variations. Connectivity was achieved via a fullheight atrium enabling a non-hierarchical, inclusive workspace with a mix of individual and team-based settings. Drawing inspiration from the Queensland landscape, the scheme seeks to emulate the natural environment, with the application of colour, materiality and texture bringing the outside in. Building on a neutral palette, each level of the building takes cues from the state’s icons and native flora and fauna.
10am to 3pm, Sunday 8 October. 1 William Street, Brisbane.
Architectus Studio
Discover the inner-city sanctum of the Architectus studio with its productive roof top garden overlooking City Hall. Architectus has created a very special work place; a garden in the city. Taking advantage of a unique urban circumstance, an elevated garden terrace in the centre of the city, the studio is a light, open, airy place for work, for creative inspiration, for collaboration, for gathering, and for sharing. The original space was opened and enlarged; a fixed glazed wall replaced by an openable sliding glass wall - connecting the studio space and the garden terrace. The generous north-east facing ‘collaboration verandah’ at the studio/ garden edge is a truly Queensland space, allowing the Architectus team to enjoy the subtropical climate; working in natural air and light and surrounded by greenery. This workplace reflects a commitment to environmentally and socially responsible place making, and practically demonstrates how it can be done.
10am to 4pm, 7 October 2017. Level 2, 79 Adelaide Street, Brisbane.
Arkhefield
From iconic Queensland Brewery offices to cinematic treasure and now architectural studio, this vibrant and creative building, with its rich and unique history, is a must see. The building has had many lives and much rejuvenation over its lifetime. Originally built as a two-storey warehouse c1900, it went on to become the Castlemaine Brewery head office, warehouse and distribution centre, movie house Birch Carroll & Coyle’s head office, and is currently home to architecture firm Arkhefield. The plaque on the façade referencing 1817, refers to the history of the brewery which had majority ownership throughout the 20th Century. Major changes to the building were undertaken c1918 to develop the warehouse to the three-storey building as it stands today. Refurbishment architects, Thomas Ramsay Hall, were also responsible for other historical landmark buildings including Brisbane City Hall and the Tattersall’s Club.
10am to 4pm, Saturday 7 October. 418 Adelaide Street, Brisbane.
Commissariat Store
The heritage-listed former Commissariat Store is Brisbane’s oldest occupied building and is one of only two buildings surviving in Brisbane from the convict period. It is of national importance as one of four Commissariat buildings surviving in Australia, and provides evidence for the building methods, skills and materials available at the time it was constructed. Penal colonies were run on a military system and the Commissariat was used for the procurement, supply and distribution of essential goods. The penal colony was closed in 1839 and Moreton Bay was declared open for free settlement in 1842. The store was retained for continued government use as a store – over time it has had many other uses including a land sales office for free settlers, an immigration depot and a police barracks. Since 1981 it has been the headquarters for the Royal Historical Society of Queensland.
10am to 4pm, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. 115 William Street, Brisbane.
Goodstart Early Learning Centre
‘Broadway on Adelaide’ the iconic, heritage-listed building has been transformed to accommodate a state-of-the-art Long Day Care and Kindergarten overlooking the Queen Street Mall. The architecturally designed centre spans the entire level two of the building. A private rooftop Kindergarten playground which offers children a natural oasis in the heart of Brisbane city, opening up a whole new world of play-based learning. The naturally-inspired design boasts separate, agebased learning and play spaces for children from six weeks to five years. Goodstart Brisbane - Adelaide Street opened in June 2017, and the centre caters for 207 children per day. Facilities include an onsite chef creating fresh and nutritious meals daily, stunning atrium design with fans and louvered windows allowing natural air flow throughout, herb and vegetable gardens, bamboo tepee, tree house with slide, spider web climber and tunnels.
9.30am to 4pm, Saturday 7 October. 119-133 Adelaide Street, Brisbane.
Peters Ice Cream Factory
When Peters-Arctic Delicacy Co. opened its doors on Boundary Street in 1928, it set in motion nearly seven decades of employment that shaped the character of West End. Designed by local architect Eric Hawksley Boden, the Ice Cream Factory building and plant cost approximately £100,000, and provided employment for hundreds of Queenslanders. The factory produced a wide range of products including cakes, Neapolitan bricks, log rolls and Eskimo Pies. In 1929 a second building was added to the factory site – a two-storey brick warehouse to store ice cream cones. After the closure of the factory in 1996 the site was used for warehousing, office space, studios and various events. The building is currently under refurbishment, and during development the Ice Cream Factory is home of “The Bromley Room”, a unique gallery and event space curated by artist-in-residence David Bromley.
10am, 12pm and 2pm, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. 97 Boundary Street, West End.
Queensland Art Gallery
The recently heritage listed Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is inviting visitors behind-thescenes to view its extensive new collection storage facility. The Gallery is modernising and expanding its collection storage space in line with architect Robin Gibson’s original intention for a mezzanine level which will increase QAG’s storage capacity by nearly a third. Be part of a rare opportunity to view the new collection storage facility, and hear about its development and technology. When QAG first opened in 1895, there were 109 works in its Collection. Today, that figure is over 17,000.
10am to 5pm, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. Stanley Place, South Brisbane.
Lytton Quarantine Station
The Lytton Quarantine Station was established in 1913-1914, to accommodate newly arrived immigrants and persons considered to be at risk of causing infection to the general population. Situated in an isolated location at the mouth of the Brisbane River, Lytton Quarantine Station illustrates early 20th century attitudes to quarantine practices and the provision of quarantine facilities. It is important as part of a range of sites in and adjacent to Moreton Bay, used for quarantine purposes from 1844. The Lytton facility functioned as a human quarantine station until the early 1980s, by which time the decision had been made to phase out human quarantine services. The Reception Building, Bath House, Boiler Room and Disinfection Block (which houses one of the two massive autoclaves that operated from 1915) will be open to the public.
10am to 4pm, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. 160 South Street, Lytton.
Anna Meares Velodrome
As Queensland’s first indoor velodrome, the Anna Meares Velodrome will host the Track Cycling competition for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. This new world-class facility will also attract elite training squads and competition events to further the development of cycling in Queensland. German Company, Sportbau Schurmann GBH designed and built the velodrome track using their own patented design. With near 45 degree turns, the 250m track features a ‘wide track’ which is advantageous for the development of all styles of racing. The 1,500-seat venue will expand to a capacity of 4,000 during games mode and is one of the first facilities in Australia to be fitted with broadcast quality LED lighting. In terms of legacy, the installation of sports flooring and netting across the infield allows for the space to accommodate multiple sports.
10am to 3pm, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. Cnr Old Cleveland and Tilley Roads, Chandler.
4ZZZ
The 4ZZZ station is housed in a mural and graffitti enhanced, three story brick building, believed to have been built in the early 20th Century. In 1964 the building was a focus for radical, left-wing activity in Brisbane, and became the headquarters of the Queensland chapter of the Australian Communist Party. While under ACP ownership, the building suffered an arson attack in 1969 and a bomb explosion in 1972 – allegedly committed by Neo Nazis. While the lower floors of the building sustained damage, no one was seriously hurt. During the Bjelke-Petersen era, Brisbane’s punk scene often attracted the unwanted attention of authorities. As outsiders attacked by ‘the state’, Punks were looked on with sympathy by the ACP and during the 1980s many early punk gigs took place on the top floor, it was through this era that 4ZZZs relationship with the building began.
10am to 4.30pm, Saturday 7 October. 291 St Paul’s Terrace, Fortitude Valley.
