Lands Administration Building

Land Administration Building
File:Land Administration Building, 1901-1905.JPG Facade of the Land Administration Building.
Former names	Executive Building
General information
Address	142 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates
Current tenants	Treasury Casino
Construction started	1901
Completed	1905
Cost	£143,900
Design and construction
Architect	Thomas Pye
Main contractor	Arthur Midson

The Land Administration Building (formerly the Executive Building) is a former government office building in central Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The building is currently occupied by the Treasury Hotel, part of the Treasury Casino.

History

The Executive Building was designed under the supervision of chief government architect Thomas Pye, with plans prepared between 1898 and 1899. Preparation of the site commenced in 1899 at a cost of £2,900, with construction of the building itself beginning in 1901 and completed in 1905, under a £141,000 construction contract let to Arthur Midson. The building was originally occupied by the offices of the Lands and Survey Departments, the Premier of Queensland, and the Executive Council, as well as the Queensland National Art Gallery.

In 1930 the Queensland National Art Gallery was removed from the Executive Building in order to relocate to the Exhibition Building Concert Hall the following year.

In 1971 offices of the Executive Council and Cabinet were moved to the newly constructed Parliamentary Annexe at 100 George Street. Since then the Executive Building has been known as the Land Administration Building.

Design

The principal elevation of the building is towards Queens Gardens and the elevations to George and William Streets have banded rustication on the lower two storeys. This two-storeyed base supports a colonnade of giant ionic order columns.

The building features stained glass in the entrance vestibules and elsewhere in the interior which complements the use of sculpture externally. Of particular importance is a marble tablet set into the wall of the George Street entrance inscribed with the message sent by King George V to the people of Australia on 25 April 1916, establishing the Anzac Day tradition.

Granite used as the base course and plinth was obtained from Enoggera and Mount Crosby. Brown freestone from Helidon was used to face the outer walls, and freestone from Yangan near Warwick was used on the colonnade walls. The decorative carving to the facades, completed during 1903-04, included in the north-western elevation an allegorical group representing Queensland mining and agriculture, carved by New South Wales sculptor WP MacIntosh to a design by Thomas Pye. The mantelpieces were constructed of a variety of Queensland timbers (maple, cedar, black bean and silky oak) representing the state's timber resources. Allegorical stained glass highlighted the rural nature of the Queensland economy.

Gallery

• Queens Gardens, Brisbane in Feb 2015 02.JPG

  Land Administration Building, Queens Gardens facade, showing a statue of Queen Victoria

• Old-Executive-building.jpg

  Land Administration Building, Queens Gardens facade

External links

• Queensland Heritage register
• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons