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Customs House, Brisbane

 
Wikipedia: Customs House, Brisbane
 
Customs House

Customs House from Queen Street
Building
Architectural style Victorian Free Classical
Location Brisbane, Queensland
Address 399 Queen Street, Brisbane
Owner Government of Australia
Current tenants University of Queensland
Construction
Started 1886
Completed 1889
Floor count 3
Cost ₤38,346
Design team
Architect Charles McLay
Architecture Firm Queensland Colonial Architect's Office

Customs House is a building located on Queen Street by the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was originally used for the collection of customs duty and was both completed and opened in 1889,[1] when Queensland was a British colony, replacing the original Customs House located at Petrie Bight. Construction was finished in three years at a cost of ₤38,346.[2]

Customs House is a Brisbane landmark known for its distinctive copper dome.[3] The building was designed by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architect's Office. Despite no government in the country having a coat of arms at the time, the building features a depiction on its facade of a shield between an emu and kangaroo.[1]

The downstream end of the Brisbane central business district was selected to spur the development of wharves in the precinct known as Petrie Bight.[3]

The building is now leased by the University of Queensland and was refurbished in the 1990s. There is a restaurant and function centre within the building, and regular concerts and art exhibitions are also held here. The Long Room was once the place customs business was transacted.[3] Today the room is used for lectures and dinners.

Customs House is within reach of the CityCat catamaran ferry service, as well as the Free Loop Bus.

Gallery

References

  1. ^ a b Readshaw, Grahame; Ronald Wood (1987). Looking up looking back at old Brisbane. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Booralong Publications. pp. 38. ISBN 0864390327. 
  2. ^ Customs House. University of Queensland. 2008. 
  3. ^ a b c Gregory, Helen (2007). Brisbane Then and Now. Wingfield, South Australia: Salamander Books. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9781741730111. 

External links


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