Bid to protect Riverside Centre with heritage listing
The daughter of a renowned Australian architect has taken her first step to protect her father’s legacy by seeking heritage listing over an iconic Brisbane office tower and precinct.
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The daughter of one of Australia’s greatest architects has launched a bid to protect one of Brisbane’s most iconic office towers and precincts, which has been lauded as having started the CBD’s drift towards the river.
Renowned architect Harry Seidler’s multi-award-winning 40-storey Riverside Centre at 123 Eagle St and plaza going down to the river was opened in 1986.
Long-term landlord GPT Group has submitted a development application for a 26-storey commercial office tower on the northern end of the precinct on the Pig N’ Whistle site next to the premium office tower.
Polly Seidler, whose father died in 2006, has applied for the Riverside Centre precinct to enter the Queensland Heritage Register as a State Heritage Place.
She said it needed to be protected because of the cultural significance of the tower and because the precinct was one of last remaining public spaces linking the river to Eagle St.
“It was Brisbane’s first premium office building and the first with a connection to the river,” she said.
“Before there were old wharves and car parks, a wall of buildings with no engagement to the river.
“The Riverside Centre precinct opened up the business district to engage with the river.
“The whole Seidler-designed precinct is a design masterpiece – a tower amid a flamboyant plaza.”
Well ahead of its time, the multi-award-winning triangle shaped tower offers expansive views of the river and was originally conceived by Seidler as a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ – total work of art.
It was considered Australia’s most prestigious and advanced office tower when it opened it.
The plaza is defined by single and two-level retail and plaza buildings for restaurants, shops, and banks set to the north and south boundaries of the site and providing ground level activation for both Eagle St and the public plaza.
A GPT spokesman said they were working with the appropriate authorities to progress to the next stage of planning for the office tower.
“The proposed development presents an exciting opportunity to build upon the established Riverside Centre precinct, adding significant new public space and access to the Brisbane River for the community, while incorporating a world-class retail, entertainment and dining precinct,” he said.
Other Harry Seidler office towers amid Seidler-designed public plazas are heritage listed in other states in Australia include Shell House, also known as 1 Spring St, Melbourne; Australia Square in Sydney: and the MLC Centre, now known as 25 Martin Place in Sydney.
NRA Collaborative chief executive Noel Robinson described himself as a disciple of Seidler.
“I think he was in my view the best Australian architect to ever live,” he said.
“He bought the modern school of architecture in terms of form and function to Australia. He was the most sculptural architect we have seen here.”
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Originally published as Bid to protect Riverside Centre with heritage listing
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