The Old Museum Building is a heritage-listed former exhibition building, former museum, and now performance venue in Bowen Hills, a near city suburb just north of Brisbane’s Central Business District.
Formally known as the Exhibition Building, the Old Queensland Museum was the main venue for concerts in Brisbane, including recitals by Dame Nellie Melba.
Welsh-born Australian architect George Henry Male Addison, a minister’s son, won the competition to design the former Exhibition Building.
He further developed his winning design to include a T-shaped floor plan which accommodated an exhibition hall, a concert hall, and a basement dining room.
Its facade consists of glazed brick, a corrugated iron roof, and two large towers.
Completed in 1891, the building is among the most respected public structures built during the 1880s economic boom in Queensland.
It is made from 1.3 million red bricks that were made locally by James Campbell.
The roofing was imported from England.
The building was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992 and today is home to Queensland Youth Orchestras.
QYO is a world-class youth orchestra organisation comprising seven orchestras and ensembles with 500 musicians aged from 8 to 24 who perform over 50 concerts a year.
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Design © 2020 George Henry Male Addison. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2020 Jeff Gardner. All Rights Reserved.
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