Originally developed by Westpac in 1970, 260 Queen Street was designed by Cook and Kerrison & Partners in association with Prangley & Crofts.
The building is a 12,913 m2 office tower, prominently positioned on the corner of Queen Street and Post Office Square in Brisbane’s CBD.
This is one of Brisbane’s premium intersections.
It is surrounded by vibrant amenities, restaurants, bars, exceptional retail, and outstanding accessibility.
In July 2018, Hines acquired the building and has since repositioned the 23-story building to establish it as a best-in-class office tower.
The Blight Rayner Architects’ design has revitalised the building’s podium that’s renowned for its heritage-listed artworks by Leonard Shillam.
One of these artworks was discovered in an old corridor and is entitled ‘City and Communication.’
The much larger external artwork is entitled ‘The Banker’.
It remains in place on the northern face of the podium façade.
A significant value-add element of the Blight Rayner Architects’ design involved the relocation of the building’s foyer onto Post Office Square into newly found floor space.
This enabled new premium-rent retail outlets to be inserted along Queen Street.
Likewise, a reconstruction of the podium roof plant facilitated the creation of a new fourth level above the existing three levels.
This fourth level now comprises two glass pavilions of premium office space opening out to a garden terrace overlooking the square.
The horizontal spandrels of the former podium façade were removed and replaced by floor-ceiling glass.
The tilted geometry of the new glazing system and the new awning were derived from the angular forms found in Leonard Shillam’s sculptures.
Blight Rayner Architects were responsible for both the external refurbishment and the foyer and retail tenancy fitouts at ground level.
The project has successfully attracted new tenants with the podium office spaces leased by WeWork.
Project Details
Project Size – 5,000 m2
Completion Date – 2020
Project Team
Architecture
Blight Rayner Architecture
Blight Rayner Architecture was formed in Brisbane by Jayson Blight and Michael Rayner, both former principal directors of a renowned national practice.
The firm’s purpose is to run a different kind of practice, one where the Directors are continuously ‘hands-on’ in design and production, rather than managers and overseers of an extensive range of projects.
Photography
Christopher Frederick Jones
Christopher is a highly-regarded architectural photographer based in Brisbane, Australia.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2021 Blight Rayner Architecture. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2021 Christopher Frederick Jones. All Rights Reserved.
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