Country Road finds new heritage-listed home in Queen Street Mall

One of Brisbane’s most historic buildings is about to get a new tenant, with fashion brand Country Road submitting plans to fit out a 95-year-old building for its new flagship shop in the city.

The Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac) building, constructed between 1928 and 1930, sits at the upper end of Queen Street Mall, on the corner of George Street.

It was added to Queensland’s heritage register in 1992.

Country Road will open its flagship Brisbane store in the heritage-listed Bank of New South Wales building this year.Credit: Cameron Atfield

A Country Road spokeswoman said the company settled on the 33 Queen Street building following an 18-month search for new premises.

“The beautiful new space will serve as a cornerstone for our presence in the Brisbane CBD, reflecting our commitment to timeless style and community connection,” she said.

Country Road is no stranger to heritage-listed bank buildings in the mall, having previously been a tenant at the old National Bank building at 180 Queen Street.

In an assessment report prepared on Country Road’s behalf and submitted to Brisbane City Council on Wednesday, town planning firm Urbis says the refurbishment would involve the removal and basement storage of some original heritage components, such as low-height walls and bank chamber benches.

That would enable them to be reinstalled in their original locations in the future, Urbis says.

“The proposed works will achieve adaptive reuse of an underutilised heritage building in a highly sought-after inner-city location whilst celebrating the heritage value and fabric that remains intact,” Urbis says.

“The proposal will establish a high-end retail tenancy over the site, which will contribute to the retail offering within proximity of the Queen Street Mall and the newly opened Queens Wharf Brisbane.”

Country Road’s tenancy signals a revival of sorts for the top of the mall, which was hit hard by the closure of Myer in 2023. That prompted the old Myer Centre’s rebranding as Uptown, but the significant retail space left behind by the centre’s old anchor tenant remained largely empty.

Since then, Griffith University has bought the Treasury Building – directly across the road from the Bank of New South Wales building – with plans to convert the former casino into a city campus.

The Brisbane City Markets, held on Wednesdays in Reddacliff Place, extended across George Street into the upper end of the mall last month.

That has been made possible, in part, by the removal of Milano – along with the Pig ‘N’ Whistle at the bottom of the mall – in 2023.

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