The tallest building on busy Sandgate Road, the TAB building, has been described as “a solitary…scout for modern urban architecture in the middle-ring suburbs of Brisbane”.
Designed by architect Geoffrey Pie and Hall Phillips and Wilson Architects (now Phillips Smith Conwell) and completed in 1976, it is a building that has weathered generations of withering criticism.
But it has its admirers too with many now valuing its uncompromising demonstration of the principles of functional Modernism.
Housing at the time of its construction an entire floor of mainframe computers coordinating the state-wide TAB operations, the tower consists of a central east-west circulation core set within two service towers.
Projecting concrete panels on the north façade offers sun control. Externally, dramatic stonewalls frame the entry stairs, which lead to the main entrance set beneath a large suspended waffle slab canopy.
Project Details
Completion Date – 1976
Project Team
Architecture
Geoffrey Pie (1938–2018)
Geoffrey Pie was one of Queensland’s leading architects, maintaining his practice for fifty years. In 2014 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to architecture and heritage preservation. Records relating to his practice are held at the University of Queensland and the Queensland State Library.
Phillips Smith Conwell
Phillips Smith Conwell has had a continuous presence in Australian architecture and design since 1905, making it one of Queensland’s longest-serving practices.
www.phillipssmithconwell.com.au
Photo Gallery
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Design © 2022 Geoffrey Pie and Hall Phillips and Wilson. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 Jeff Gardner. All Rights Reserved.
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