History Of Brisbane City Hall In 60 Seconds

Located by the hustle and bustle of King George Square in the heart of Brisbane City, Brisbane City Hall is an impressive structure of concrete, granite, sandstone and marble that serves as the seat of the city’s local arm of government.

Constructed in the Italian Renaissance style, it’s a sophisticated building, formal, symmetrical and featuring tall columns. The 70-metre-tall clock tower serves as a centrepiece, inspired by St Mark’s Campanile in Venice, Italy. When it was built, the 4.9-metre diameter clock faces were the largest in Australia. It was the tallest building in the city for decades, until height restrictions were relaxed in the 1960s.

Although the layout incorporates offices, public spaces, galleries and reception rooms, the most impressive internal feature of City Hall is the massive auditorium. The 2,500-seat circular hall was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. It features a domed copper roof, which has since been renovated to incorporate a light show made from 8,500 LED lights. This auditorium also houses the city’s pipe organ, a musical machine incorporating 4,600 pipes.

It’s almost a miracle that the building came to be a striking architectural masterpiece. When the Queensland Governor laid the first foundation stone in 1917, the architects and engineers had not yet finalised the plans. It’s hardly surprising that this foundation stone was later found to be in the wrong position and had to be removed. While the construction works wouldn’t finish until 1930, the council began operating out of sections of the building from 1928. At the unofficial opening ceremony, Lord Mayor William Jolly marked the occasion by paying his personal electricity bill – the first of many transactions the council would manage from this space.

Critical redevelopments were then made in 2010 to stabilise the foundations and stop the whole building from slowly sinking (the ground underneath is quite swampy). However, these works also allowed the city to incorporate more people-friendly features into the floorplan. As a result, there’s more to this space than council administration these days. The refurbished spaces are popular for public gatherings like conferences, fashion shows and classical concerts. The rooftop was redesigned to incorporate a modern museum.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.