Premier Anna Bligh today announced that the government will seek tenders to redevelop one of the most important CBD sites which will be left vacant from mid-next year. The old Supreme and District Courts will be moved to the new courthouse building at 419 George Street.
The estimated $57.3 million proceeds from the sale of the site will be used to co-fund the Cairns Entertainment Precinct
The Premier described the deal as a “win win” for both cities.
“Cairns deserves a world class entertainment precinct to breathe new life into tourism in the region.
“But Brisbane gains as well.
“We will offer the Supreme Court building to the market for uses such as a luxury hotel site, office accommodation and retail and also seek expressions of interest for a privately owned and operated theatre as part of the complex.
“We will attach to the tender a proposal for a new inner city performance space that can be owned and run privately like so many theatres in Melbourne.
“The exact form that would take will depend on the market interest but this is an incredibly exciting prospect for Brisbane.” Ms Bligh said.
Now is the time to get it right, to build something bold, daring and controversial by nature. Buildings across the world are pieces of art, but also serve their purpose functionally. It is Brisbane’s turn to build something interesting.
Brisbane Ideas Competition entrant Jesse Lockhart-Krause proposed the idea of creating a new cultural node to complement the Cultural Centre across the river.
“Brisbane is Australia’s fastest growing city, with a population 2 million people. Oslo in Norway has a population of 1.5 million and has recently completed the Oslo Opera House, an architectural sensation.” – Entry Statement.
The government’s step to blend together retail, hotel and a performance venue will no doubt create life and energy in a previously human-devoid site.
Images by Jesse Lockhart-Krause.
They need to get this right and make it a world class drop off point for the citycats as well. I would have the freeway running through the project as a curiousity and also have some steps or larger walk levels down to the river edge. Where you can just sit and relax and admire southbank across the way.
If the Theatre goes ahead they need to get it right. Brisbane does not need an opera house, The Lyric theatre in Qpac is designed especially for opera in mind.
What Brisbane needs is a theatre that only seats around 1200 people while having a large stage area much like type you see in West End London or on Broadway, A Theatre large enough for Musicals and dance but small enough that the cost to hire it does not deter producers from using it.
I like the look of what I would call “The Hyundai Building” – Is there other concept work for this building design? I have seen the article previously about the Jesse Lockhart-Krause design and enjoy the idea of everything it offers however think the building design itself is too similar to the Brisbane Square tower that would be near to it
Rayjc89
The lyric theatre is defs not designed for operas, it is designed for musical performances the acoustics are not good enough for performances without mic’s. While opera singers can still be heard, the acoustic does nothing for their voices. Brisbane does need a theatre specifically designed for operatic performances. A theatre that will enable opera Queensland to stage much larger productions and more frequently, and entice international performers to come to our city to perform. That’s my opinion anyway :p