Brisbane City Hall, Government building in Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane City Hall is a rectangular council building beside King George Square, with entrances on Ann and Adelaide Streets. Its design combines the Roman Pantheon with St Mark's Campanile in Venice: a sandstone-clad clock tower with a large Roman-numeral clock rises above a triangular pediment and eight fluted columns. Inside, an auditorium seats up to 1,600 beneath the southern hemisphere's largest copper dome.
Construction began in 1920 as part of a project to modernize the city administration and lasted ten years until the opening in 1930. At that time the tower was the tallest structure in the city and remained so for several decades.
The name "City Hall" reflects the British administrative tradition that shaped Brisbane as a colonial city. Local residents use the forecourt today for events and markets, while the building serves as the seat of municipal government.
The hall is open to visitors on weekdays and weekends, with hours starting later on Saturdays and Sundays. The entrance is located on Adelaide Street in the central business district, easily reached on foot or by public transport.
The 4,391-pipe organ was built in 1891 by Henry Willis & Sons of Liverpool for the Brisbane Exhibition Building at Bowen Park and moved here in 1927; its first recital followed in 1929. The clock was made by the local firm Synchronome Electrical Company. The second foundation stone, laid in 1920, was set with an opal-encrusted 18-carat gold trowel designed by Peter Kaad.
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