Let’s pause to reflect on our beautiful, iconic City Hall.
With so many incredible features, let’s just focus on a few.
First up we have to chat about the tympanum. It’s the sculpture that graces the triangular space over the entrance to the building. Notably created by Daphne Mayo MBE (a student of St Margarets in Ascot), it’s a relief of early settlers and is called ‘The Progress of Civilisation in the State of Queensland’. Considered one of the most important sculpture commissions ever awarded, apparently Daphne would take her sandwiches with her as she climbed the ladder each morning so she could spend the entire day working on the piece. Started in 1927, it was completed in 1930.
Where do we go next? The grand marble staircase, the 14m tall corinthian columns or the clock tower?
The clock tower is 92 metres high, and when it was built, it was the largest public clock and most modern time-keeping piece in Australia. The bell that marks the hour weighs 4.3 tonnes and did you know you can go up the lift to see its inner workings? (This may have changed due to covid).
Last but not least, the copper dome is the Brisbane City Hall’s crowning glory, and covers the auditorium (seating 1600 people). It was the largest copper dome in the southern hemisphere and the auditorium’s design is based on the Pantheon, Rome.
DID YOU KNOW? The Shingle Inn is one of two privately owned cafes in the Brisbane City Hall, and its interior was put into storage (when Queens Plaza was built) so that it could be reconstructed within the City Hall.
