BAFS Building, Heritage pharmacy building in Brisbane, Australia.
The BAFS Building at 331 and 333 George Street, on the corner of Turbot Street, was designed by Lange Leopold Powell of Chambers and Powell and built from 1915 to 1916 by B Cunningham. It has three floors and a basement: the whole ground floor held the dispensary, the first floor had offices for lease, and the third floor held two large rooms for the Board of Management and Lodges. The facade carries the inscription "1885-1916".
Built in 1916, this structure became the fourth location of the Brisbane Associated Friendly Societies, an organization providing healthcare services to working-class members since 1885. The building emerged during an era when such mutual aid societies filled a vital gap in medical access for ordinary people.
The facade carries the inscription "1885-1916", marking the society's links to its first dispensary, opened on 1 January 1885 in a room of the Oddfellows Hall in Charlotte Street. The third floor held two large rooms used for meetings by the Board of Management and the Lodges.
The building sits on George Street in central Brisbane and is easy to reach on foot, with the pharmacy visible from street level on the ground floor. Access to the upper office and meeting spaces may be restricted, so it is worth checking in advance whether these areas are open to visitors.
The building was designed by architect Lange Leopold Powell, whose work established new design standards for commercial structures across Queensland. His sculptured facades display unusual attention to craft and ornamentation that set it apart from other buildings of its time.
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