Brisbane Archives - Fortitude Valley News

QPS Members Join Brisbane Run to Stand Against Domestic Violence

More than 150 Queensland Police Service members joined thousands of Queenslanders at Brisbane’s annual Darkness to Daylight event, taking part in an overnight challenge dedicated to remembrance, raising awareness and preventing domestic and family violence, while standing in solidarity with those affected.

The event, hosted by Challenge DV, was held overnight and into the morning after being rescheduled from 28–29 May due to weather. It had originally been planned during Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month.

At the centre of the event was a team-based 110km relay-style run, representing the 110 lives lost to domestic and family violence in Australia each year. Participants were also able to join the final 10km or 3km sections, while QPS members also took part across 5km, 10km and 110km events.

For QPS, the event was both a public show of support and a reminder of the daily reality of domestic and family violence across Queensland. Police respond to an average of 500 DFV-related call-outs each day, equal to about one every three minutes.

Last year, 20 Queenslanders lost their lives to domestic and family violence.

QPS members at Darkness to Daylight — *Photo Credit: QPS*

Running Through the Night for Lives Lost

The overnight format gave the challenge a clear symbolic focus, moving from darkness into daylight while participants raised funds and awareness for prevention and early intervention work.

QPS members took part as police and as members of the wider community, joining an event built around remembrance, survivor support and prevention. Office of the Commissioner General Manager Cathy Ford spoke at the closing ceremony, where she acknowledged the community response and the shared responsibility to reject domestic and family violence.

Superintendent Michael Ede completed the 110km overnight run and described participation as a meaningful way to recognise the impact of domestic and family violence, remember those who have died and support efforts to prevent further harm.

The event also drew public support online after QPS congratulated participants on social media. Community responses thanked those who took part and recognised the work of police who respond to domestic and family violence incidents.

Brisbane runners supporting DFV prevention — *Photo Credit: QPS*

Funds Support Challenge DV Programs

Funds raised through Darkness to Daylight support Challenge DV’s work in domestic and family violence prevention. That work includes workplace education, respectful relationships programs, strategic partnerships and advocacy.

Challenge DV works across schools, workplaces, sporting clubs, local businesses and community groups, with programs aimed at giving people the knowledge and confidence to recognise abuse and help prevent violence.

A QPS fundraising page connected to Darkness to Daylight described the team’s participation as a way to stand with survivors, honour lives lost and support programs focused on education, resources and prevention. The page had exceeded its fundraising target and was no longer accepting donations.

Community event for DFV prevention — *Photo Credit: QPS*

Help Remains Available

People experiencing domestic and family violence can contact police and support services.

If domestic violence is occurring and someone is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero on 000. For other domestic and family violence matters, police can be contacted on 131 444 at any time.

Support and counselling services include DVConnect Womensline on 1800 811 811, DVConnect Mensline on 1800 600 636, 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, 13YARN on 13 92 76, Diverse Voices on 1800 184 527 and the Elder Abuse Helpline on 1300 651 192.

Published 19-June-2026

Bowen Hills Man Finds Hope After 33-Year Struggle

After a 33-year struggle, four periods in prison and the loss of his job, long-term relationship and freedom, Bowen Hills man Travis has rebuilt his life with support from Carinity’s prison chaplaincy ministry and his Christian faith.

A Long Struggle

For more than three decades, Travis lived with a gambling compulsion he could not overcome on his own.

The Bowen Hills man had reached a point where he had stopped trying to stop, even as the harmful pattern cost him his long-term girlfriend, his job and his freedom.

Travis has described committing white-collar fraud to fund the behaviour, leading to four periods in prison across 11 years.

Support Behind Prison Walls

During his time in prison, Travis came into contact with volunteer chaplains from Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy, a Carinity ministry supporting people in Queensland correctional centres.

For Travis, their presence became part of his path towards recovery. The chaplains offered a steady, non-judgemental form of support as he dealt with regret, fear, grief and the consequences of his past.

That support helped him begin rebuilding his self-confidence, self-respect and sense of identity beyond the struggle that had shaped much of his life.

Travis gambling recovery — *Caption: Travis enjoying fishing.*
*Photo Credit: Supplied*

A Turning Point Through Faith

At one of his lowest points, Travis turned to God while feeling he could no longer carry the struggle alone.

He came to see trust in God as central to the change he had been seeking for years. While the desire to return to old behaviour did not immediately disappear, that moment became part of the journey that led him towards a different life.

The Final Bet

Travis’s last bet was on 16 November 2023.

The date came one day before his birthday on 17 November 2023. After 33 years of daily urges, he had come to believe he had two choices: stop completely or continue for the rest of his life.

Since 16 November 2023, Travis has said he has not felt the urge or desire to place another bet. He also links 17 November 2023 with becoming born again in his Christian faith.

A Chaplain Who Stayed

One Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy volunteer chaplain became especially important in Travis’s recovery.

The two first met in a correctional centre in 2015. Years after Travis was released, they reconnected, and the chaplain became his mentor, life coach and close friend.

That relationship continued beyond prison, giving Travis ongoing support as he rebuilt his life and future.

Today, Travis is living in Brisbane free from the compulsion that once controlled his life. His story is one of recovery, faith and the lasting support of chaplaincy at a time when he needed it most.

Published 18-June-2026

Disney Fans, Get Ready: Australia’s Biggest Disney Pop-Up Is Coming to Brisbane

@disneystoreau/Instagram

An official Disney Store pop-up is opening at Wintergarden on Queen Street Mall, bringing what the brand describes as its biggest pop-up experience in Australia to date.

The store will operate from 4 July to 27 September at Shop QSM 103, 209 Queen Street Mall, stocking collectibles, toys and apparel inspired by a wide range of Disney and Pixar characters. It arrives during Pixar’s 40th anniversary year, with the studio having been founded in 1986, and the range will include dedicated anniversary product lines alongside the broader Disney offering.

The first 50 people through the door when the store opens at 9am on 4 July will receive a free gift.

What’s on the shelves

The range goes well beyond the standard souvenir fare. Brisbane-exclusive collective cards, designed specifically for this city and not available anywhere else, are one of the headline offerings. Disney Store Japan ranges will also be stocked, bringing product lines that rarely surface in Australian retail.

*Photo Credit: @disneystoreau/Instagram*

Christmas in July will be represented through ornaments of beloved characters, and a dedicated pin collector event runs on 8 July, focused on Disney’s beloved animals and featuring exclusive pins available only in London, Dublin and Brisbane. Tickets for the pin event are sold separately.

Stock refreshes weekly throughout the run, which means a visit in July and another in September are likely to turn up very different shelves.

Planning your visit

Those who visited Brisbane’s previous Disney Store pop-up will remember the queues. This one is described as the largest iteration yet, and the Queen Street Mall location gives it one of the highest foot traffic spots in Queensland retail. Weekday visits are the practical choice for anyone who wants to browse without pressure.

Weekend mornings, especially in the school holiday period around early July, are likely to be a different experience entirely.

The store is open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 6pm, Friday from 9am-9pm, Saturday from 9am-6pm, and Sunday from 10am-5pm. The Disney Store pop-up at Wintergarden, Shop QSM 103, 209 Queen Street Mall runs 4 July to 27 September. Further details are available at here.

Published 4-June-2026

Brisbane Gets a Blooming Good Surprise as CJ Hendry’s Flower Shop Arrives

@cj_hendry/Instagram

CJ Hendry’s Flower Shop, the travelling pop-up that drew hour-long queues at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden last month, is heading to Fortitude Valley as the only other Australian stop on its 2026 tour.

The pop-up will run at 1 Arthur Street from 25 June to 12 July. Every fabric flower costs $5, and every visitor receives one free on entry. There is no limit on how many you can buy. If Sydney’s response is any guide, Fortitude Valley could be in for some serious foot traffic.

Hendry quietly announced the Brisbane dates through her online calendar, and locals were quick to take notice.

From Brisbane to Brooklyn

Hendry was born in South Africa and raised in Brisbane, studying architecture at QUT and also finance, before walking away from both to pursue art full-time in 2013.

She sold her designer wardrobe on eBay to fund the transition, drew from early morning until late at night seven days a week, and built a following entirely through Instagram before galleries or representation entered the picture.

View this post on Instagram

By 2015 she had relocated to New York, where she is now based in Brooklyn. Her hyperrealistic large-scale drawings of luxury objects, rendered in her signature layered scribbling technique, command five to six-figure prices from collectors internationally. Her right hand is insured for $10 million.

She has described Brisbane as the place where she can simply switch off. “Brisbane is very calming for me,” she has said. The Flower Shop returning here is not an accident.

Inside the Flower Shop

The Flower Shop is an in-person-only travelling market built entirely around Hendry’s fabric flowers, each one handcrafted from felt and fabric in different shapes, sizes, colours and textures.

Buckets overflow with blooms of every variety imaginable: classic roses and tulips alongside more surrealist forms, and Australian-exclusive designs including native florals such as wattle and gum nuts, which sold out in Sydney.

The concept draws on the same sense of play that runs through all of Hendry’s work: ordinary objects transformed into something slightly unreal, where the pleasure is in noticing the craftsmanship up close. At $5 a stem with a free flower on entry, it is also one of the more accessible encounters with a genuinely world-famous artist’s practice.

The Flower Shop has visited Singapore, Melbourne, Hong Kong and New York, where a permanent retail store now operates. Sydney and Hong Kong permanent stores are to follow. The Brisbane pop-up is a two-and-a-half week window only.

Getting there and what to bring

1 Arthur Street sits in Fortitude Valley, close to Brunswick Street and accessible from the Valley train station. Street parking is limited on weekday evenings and weekends, so public transport or rideshare is the practical choice.

Tips from the Sydney crowd: arrive early, check the Flower Shop’s Instagram before you go to shortlist your favourites, and bring something to carry your stems home in.

The CJ Hendry Flower Shop runs 25 June to 12 July at 1 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley. Entry is free. Follow @cj_hendry for updates as opening day approaches.

Published 4-June-2026

Brisbane’s Night at The Parkland Returns Bigger Than Ever for 2026

Tourism & Events Queensland

Night at The Parkland returns to Roma Street Parkland for its second season in September, bringing nine open-air concerts across three weekends as part of Brisbane Festival’s 2026 program.

The concert series, presented by Toyota in association with Brisbane Festival, runs from 4 to 20 September 2026. Organisers expanded the program following strong attendance during last year’s debut season. General public tickets go on sale from 9am on 2 June.

Promoters Second Sunday have built the 2026 lineup around a mix of Australian ARIA winners and one international headliner: Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, making his first Australian live appearance in seven years.

The full September schedule

The series opens on Friday 4 September with The Cruel Sea, joined by special guests Magic Dirt, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the double-platinum, number-one album Three Legged Dog. Katie Noonan brings her critically acclaimed Jeff Buckley’s Grace show to the parkland the following evening, fresh from a national tour of more than 25 sold-out performances.

Sunday 6 September features Yesterday’s Gone: The Fleetwood Mac Legacy, with Fanny Lumsden, Charlie Collins and Karen-Lee Andrews sharing the stage for the tribute show.

Aloe Blacc headlines Friday 11 September as part of his Wake Me Up tour. The Temper Trap follow on Saturday 12, and Human Nature bring their All The Hits Live show to the parkland on Sunday 13 September.

The final weekend opens with Icehouse on Friday 18 September, returning after a sold-out appearance in the 2025 season. PNAU take Saturday 19, performing an unseated, dancing-encouraged set of hits alongside tracks from their forthcoming album AHHCade, due in late July. Missy Higgins closes the series on Sunday 20 September.

Support acts across the series include Vandalism Angel, Jo Davie, Georgia Fields, Birren, Wilsn, Clea, Lastlings, Jaymon Bob, Ally Row, Kyla Belle, Alice Ivy, Hazel Mei, Jem Cassar-Daley and more.

An outdoor setting that suits the music

Roma Street Parkland sits at the northern edge of Brisbane’s CBD and is described as the world’s largest subtropical garden in an urban centre. The setting — tiered gardens, mature trees, open lawns — makes it a genuinely distinctive alternative to the arena circuit, and the 2025 season proved there is an appetite in Brisbane for exactly this kind of outdoor live music experience.

*Photo Credit: Tourism & Events Queensland*

Second Sunday co-founder Cameron Coghlan said the expanded program reflects the response to last year’s debut. “We’re incredibly proud to see Night at The Parkland return for its second year, building on a strong debut and creating even more opportunities for audiences to enjoy great live music in a unique outdoor setting,” he said.

Brisbane Festival Artistic Director Ebony Bott added that the series had quickly established itself as a standout live music event for the city. “We’re excited to welcome Night at The Parkland back to Brisbane Festival in 2026, bigger, bolder and expanded across three incredible weekends,” she said.

Tickets and information

General public tickets go on sale today, Tuesday 2 June, at 9am AEST. Full lineup details, individual show information and tickets are available at here. Getting to Roma Street Parkland is straightforward, with trains running directly to Roma Street Station and buses servicing the underground busway or street-level stops right outside.

Published 2-June-2026

Howard Smith Wharves Expansion Approved With Brisbane’s First Over-River Pool

DA A006618899

Artemus Group has received approval for a $500 million expansion of Howard Smith Wharves, bringing Brisbane’s first over-river swimming pool, a 106-room boutique hotel and 8,500 square metres of new public space to the heritage-listed precinct beneath the Story Bridge.

The development approval, granted this week, fires the starting gun on a transformation the Fortitude Valley precinct’s developers have been planning since lodging the application in September 2024.

Dubbed HSW 2.0, the expansion represents the most ambitious change to the site since the original $110 million redevelopment opened in November 2018, and it lands with a clear deadline in sight: the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Brisbane’s first over-river pool

The standout element of the approved design is the over-river pool, the first of its kind in Brisbane. Positioned to extend out over the Brisbane River, the pool forms part of a broader bar and dining precinct that will replace the existing Rivershed venue.

Renderings show an open-air structure that puts swimmers directly above the river, with the Story Bridge and cliffs of Kangaroo Point as the backdrop.

No Brisbane venue has built a pool over the river before. The concept draws on precedents in cities like Paris, where floating pools on the Seine have long been part of how the city uses its waterway, and it fits the broader pattern of cities reclaiming their rivers as recreational infrastructure rather than industrial remnants or backdrop scenery.

Artemus Group founder Adam Flaskas framed the approval as a defining moment for both the precinct and Brisbane’s relationship with its river.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Brisbane,” Flaskas said. “Howard Smith Wharves has always been about connecting people with this magnificent river, and with this announcement we take that vision to an entirely new level.”

A precinct built on Depression-era foundations

Howard Smith Wharves carries genuine historical weight. The wharves were built between 1939 and 1942 as part of a relief employment programme during the Great Depression, constructed in conjunction with the Story Bridge directly above them.

The site served the Howard Smith Co Ltd coastal shipping company until the 1960s, hosted World War II air-raid shelters, and then sat largely abandoned for decades before being listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1997.

Artemus Group secured the site in 2015 and spent three years transforming it into the vibrant precinct locals know today. The riverside hub features 13 restaurants, cafes, and bars, including Felons Brewing Co, Yoko, Greca, Stanley, and Ciao Papi, alongside Crystalbrook Vincent hotel and Howards Hall.

It became the first site in Brisbane to achieve Heritage Hero Status from the National Trust, recognised for its management of built, environmental and cultural heritage across the one development.

The 2018 version of Howard Smith Wharves gave the precinct its identity. HSW 2.0 is designed to deepen it.

Everything else the expansion includes

Beyond the over-river pool, the approved plans include a nine-storey, 106-room boutique hotel to be built atop a substantially upgraded Felons Barrel Hall. The revamped hall will be designed to attract larger music and entertainment events, addressing one of the current site’s capacity limitations.

Two new cliffside lifts will improve access to the precinct from Bowen Terrace above, addressing a long-standing friction point for visitors who find the staircase descent from the valley’s upper streets steep or difficult. Cascading riverfront stairs will create a more gradual connection between the precinct and the water’s edge.

The pontoon infrastructure, which will provide private boat mooring and improved river access for tourism operators, is designed to be flood-resilient, a significant engineering consideration for any structure built over the Brisbane River. The new public realm totals 8,500 square metres, a 30 per cent increase on the current site’s outdoor space.

Howard Smith Wharves chief executive Luke Fraser said every design decision had been guided by a single question.

“How do we create something that Brisbane will be proud to show the world in 2032 and for decades beyond?” he said.

What comes next

The full build is targeted for completion ahead of the 2032 Games. Construction timelines have not yet been confirmed publicly, though the development approval means the project can now move into detailed design and tender phases. The Bougainvillea House event venue will also be redeveloped from its current single storey into a two-storey building as part of the broader works.

Howard Smith Wharves is at 5 Boundary Street, Fortitude Valley. For updates on the HSW 2.0 development and precinct bookings, click here.

Published 28-May-2026

Agnes Unveils Biggest Menu Shake-Up Since Opening in Fortitude Valley

Agnes Restaurant/Facebook

Agnes, the fire-driven restaurant tucked inside a heritage brick warehouse on Agnes Street in Fortitude Valley, has unveiled its most substantial menu overhaul to date, introducing 25 new dishes inspired by Spanish and Mediterranean flavours.

Agnes feels almost like it was meant to be there all along — a street with the same name, a stripped-back warehouse of brick and concrete, and a kitchen that runs entirely without gas or electricity.

Nearly six years on, Agnes has become one of the most recognised restaurants in Brisbane not by reinventing itself each season but by staying firmly committed to a single idea: fire as the only means of cooking, and produce as the only point of difference.

The new menu, unveiled in May 2026 by co-owner and culinary director Ben Williamson, does not abandon that idea. It sharpens it.

A change in the kitchen that prompted a rethink

The menu shift follows the departure of group chef Adam Wolfers, who stepped away earlier this year to take on a similar creative role at Sydney restaurant group Esca. Wolfers had been a significant part of Agnes’s culinary identity, and his exit gave Williamson both the reason and the space to approach the menu from scratch.

The result is 25 new dishes that Williamson describes as a return to the restaurant’s original instincts: fewer elements, better produce, and the fire left to do most of the talking.

“Working with fire is the art of managing a primal element, compelling our team to cook with intuition,” Williamson says. “Our new menu reflects this philosophy, stripping back unnecessary elements and focusing on quality produce, allowing the ingredients and fire to speak for themselves. I wrote this menu from the ground up to take Agnes back to its roots.”

The Spanish and Mediterranean lean is a notable shift in emphasis, though not entirely a surprise for a kitchen that has always drawn on a broad palette of influences. Williamson’s background includes time cooking in the Middle East and years at Gerard’s Bistro before Agnes opened, and that restlessness with any single culinary tradition has always fed into what ends up on the plate.

The new dishes

The new menu reads like a list of things that shouldn’t work together until they do. Scorched Mallorquin toast arrives with honeycomb, fennel seeds and guindillas, the sweet and the sharp and the pickled finding their alignment. Chistorra, a Catalan-style chorizo, is roasted in cider.

Coral trout comes in pil pil sauce with burnt lemon, the Basque technique of emulsifying fish collagen into a silky, almost gelatinous sauce lending the dish a texture that few other cooking methods could achieve.

The kitchen at Agnes burns ironbark, applewood, cherrywood and olivewood, each chosen for how differently it interacts with whatever is being cooked. That level of specificity is what separates the fire-cooking here from a novelty act, and it is that same specificity that underpins the new dishes.

*Photo Credit: Agnes Restaurant/Facebook*

Not everything changes. The smoked tomato toast remains, a dish that has become close to non-negotiable for regulars. The sourdough crumpet with yellowfin tuna and crème fraîche also stays on, a combination that has been quietly perfecting itself since the restaurant opened.

Two set menus and a new cocktail list

Alongside the food, Agnes has introduced two set menus for groups of two or more. One sits at $89 per person, the other at $139, each combining dishes from the new menu with a selection of the restaurant’s classics. The format suits the way Agnes is best experienced: not as a series of individual choices, but as a meal that builds across the table.

The cocktail list has also been overhauled, this time with a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood theme. Two of the new drinks are the Did I Say Something Funny, Stuntman, combining kalamansi, chamomile, gin, apricot and peated rice, and the Spahn Ranch, made with tequila, bee pollen, raspberry and lime.

Whether the film reference is a wink or a genuine structural conceit barely matters when the drinks are that specific about their ingredients.

Sunday bookings carry a 10 per cent surcharge and public holidays a 15 per cent surcharge. Duck dishes are available to preorder at least 24 hours before a booking by emailing seatme@agnesrestaurant.com.au.

Agnes is at 22 Agnes Street, Fortitude Valley, and opens Tuesday to Thursday from 5.30pm, Friday and Saturday from 11.30am, and Sunday from 5.30pm. Phone (07) 3067 9087. Bookings are available here.

Published 27-May-2026

Fortitude Valley Gets a Taste of the Viral Dirty Soda Craze

Photo Credit: What’s Poppin’/ Facebook

Local entrepreneurs Madi and Will have transformed a quirky American beverage trend into Australia’s first permanent dirty soda shop, bringing customisable soft drinks to the vibrant streets of Fortitude Valley.

A Fresh Take on Soft Drinks

Originating in the United States over a decade ago, dirty soda is a unique twist on standard carbonated drinks. The concept involves taking a basic soft drink, such as cola or sparkling water, and mixing it with flavoured syrups, fresh fruit purées, and a splash of cream. Originally created as a sweet substitute for coffee and alcoholic beverages, the drinks recently gained global attention through American reality television.

Seeing the trend grow overseas, business owner Madeline Holthe wanted to bring the experience to her local community. After a successful run operating out of a brightly coloured pop-up trailer at various Brisbane markets in early 2024, she and co-founder Will expanded the operation into a permanent storefront.

Retro Vibes and Custom Flavours

Located in California Lane, the new shop called What’s Poppin’ offers a highly visual and nostalgic experience. The founders designed the space themselves, decorating it with pink splash walls, bright blue tiles, and neon signs. While there is not much seating inside, the scenic laneway provides a great place for visitors to walk and enjoy their drinks. The menu features 30 signature options using bases like Coke Zero, Mountain Dew, and energy drinks.

A crowd favourite is the signature drink called Sodies, which blends Coca-Cola with fresh lime, coconut, and coconut cream. Another popular choice is the Ocean soda, made with Blue Curacao, passionfruit, and coconut creamer. Customers can also completely customise their orders, a feature Holthe believes allows adults to feel the childhood excitement of visiting a lolly shop. Alongside the drinks, the store serves cookies in flavours like Nutella and Biscoff, with plans to add hot toasted sandwiches soon.

A Nationwide Beverage Shift

Starting the business was not completely smooth at first. Holthe noted that Australian consumers are sometimes slow to adopt new trends, initially making the early months of the business challenging. However, she observed that once locals tasted the unique flavour combinations, they quickly became regular customers. The success of What’s Poppin’ has sparked a wider movement across the country.

Similar independent shops are now appearing in Sydney and Melbourne. Even major fast-food chains are taking notice, with McDonald’s testing a range of iced dirty sodas in Queensland and Victoria, while Hungry Jack’s recently introduced a dirty cola mixed with coffee-style creamer and coconut syrup.

Planning a Visit

For those wanting to try the dessert-style drinks, the shop is located at 22 McLachlan Street in Fortitude Valley. The store operates Tuesday through Sunday, offering daytime service throughout the week along with extended late-night hours until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to cater to the busy weekend laneway crowd.

Published Date 25-May-2026

Brisbane’s Golden Triangle Welcomes Its Newest Commercial Tower

Investa

The $700 million 360 Queen Street tower has officially opened in Brisbane’s Golden Triangle, bringing a 33-storey premium office building to the CBD that will hold the title of the city’s newest commercial tower until Dexus’ North Tower at Waterfront Brisbane completes in late 2028, a gap of more than two and a half years.

The joint venture between Charter Hall and Investa, developed through the Charter Hall Prime Office Fund and Investa Commercial Property Fund, marked the official opening on 1 May 2026 after a build that ran approximately 12 months beyond its original schedule, navigated through a period Carmel Hourigan, Charter Hall’s Office CEO, describes simply as “one of the hardest periods working in office.”

“Going through the Covid pandemic, cyclones, flooding, a massive cost escalation and productivity issues was challenging for the joint venture partners,” Hourigan said.

The building is 95 per cent pre-committed and currently half full, with tenants progressively completing fit-outs and relocating across the coming months.

From a 40-storey plan to a 33-storey building

The tower that opened bears only a partial resemblance to what was first proposed. The original concept was a 40-storey building, and scaling it back to 33 storeys was, by Investa CEO Pete Menegazzo’s own account, not a smooth internal process.

“When decisions were made we were just coming out of Covid and so there were still a lot of questions about what was going on in the office market in the longer term and higher levels for precommitments were a risk,” Menegazzo said. “It was a healthy debate we needed to have.”

The decision proved well-calibrated. By the time the building reached completion, the Brisbane office market had moved firmly in its favour, with the newest tenants paying a net effective rent approximately 40 per cent higher than HopgoodGanim Lawyers and BDO, who both signed in early 2022 as the first tenants committed to the building.

Hourigan acknowledged the early commitment to those businesses: “The early birds certainly got the worm.”

Inside 360 Queen Street

Designed by Blight Rayner Architecture and built by Hutchinson Builders, 360 Queen Street delivers premium office floors alongside a suite of amenities built around the direction that workplace design has been moving.

A dedicated wellness centre, a multi-functional conference and business hub, a curated retail laneway, cafes and an activated ground plane bring a mix of uses to the building that reflects the contemporary expectation that premium offices need to be destinations rather than simply places to sit at a desk.

Positioned within the Golden Triangle, the 360 Queen Street tower sits right on the CBD’s northern gate, putting both Fortitude Valley and the major law and finance hubs within arm’s reach.

The joint venture intends to hold the asset long-term.

“I think we’ll just enjoy it,” Hourigan said.

Brisbane’s premium pipeline is thin from here

The significance of 360 Queen Street for Brisbane’s office market extends beyond the building itself. With its completion, Brisbane effectively exits its current pipeline of premium office supply for more than two years.

The next major addition will be Dexus’ North Tower, the taller of the two towers in the $2.5 billion Waterfront Brisbane development on the northern edge of the CBD, which is due for completion at the end of 2028.

For tenants seeking large-floor-plate premium space in Brisbane between now and late 2028, the choices are effectively fixed. That supply constraint, combined with the continued migration of tenants from older-stock buildings to premium assets, underpins the rental growth trajectory that has already made 360 Queen Street’s newest leases substantially more expensive than its founding ones.

For leasing enquiries at 360 Queen Street, click here.

Published 7-May-2026

Historic Treasury Building to Become Griffith’s New AI and Cyber Security Hub

COX Architecture

Griffith University’s School of Information and Communications Technology, home to Queensland’s top-ranked artificial intelligence programme, will move from its Nathan campus into the heart of Brisbane’s CBD from 2027. The move establishes the heritage-listed Treasury Building as the state’s most significant urban technology and AI learning hub.

The transformation of the Treasury Building—formerly operated as a casino by The Star Entertainment Group and acquired by Griffith for $67.5 million—marks a major milestone in the adaptive reuse of Queensland’s heritage architecture. COX Architecture is leading the design and fitout of the iconic landmark.

The campus will welcome its first intake of students in 2027, eventually accommodating roughly 6,000 students and 200 staff members at full operation.

A building that has always shaped Queensland’s story

The Treasury Building on Queen Street is one of Brisbane’s most significant heritage-listed structures, its ornate Baroque Revival sandstone façade remaining a fixture of the CBD skyline for more than a century. It began life as Queensland’s colonial treasury, transitioned through phases as a public service building, and most recently served as a casino.

Now, it begins its next chapter as a purpose-built learning environment.

The decision to bring Griffith’s ICT school into this central space is a deliberate strategy to bridge academia and industry. Professor Ernest Foo, who leads the school, noted that the central location offers unmatched opportunities for collaboration.

“Bringing ICT students together in the Treasury Building will offer so many opportunities to build connections that they’ll take into their future careers,” Professor Foo said. “The Treasury Building will allow us to build on the work we currently do to connect students from across disciplines to collaborate and work with industry partners in real-world scenarios.”

AI and cyber security at the centre of the vision

The ICT school’s relocation anchors the Treasury’s identity as a technology hub focused on two critical disciplines: artificial intelligence and cyber security. Professor Foo explained that AI sits at the core of the school’s teaching and research initiatives.

“Artificial intelligence is one of those big disruptors in the modern world,” Professor Foo said. “It’s changing the way we work. And it’s not one of those things to be feared so much, but it’s one of those things that we can take advantage of.”

Griffith was the first university in Queensland to offer a dedicated Bachelor of Cyber Security degree, alongside its master’s programme. Professor Foo highlighted that industry demand for specialist cyber security professionals continues to outpace the supply of graduates.

“From listening to industry, we’ve found that there’s a big need for more people with that specialist knowledge. Being located in the Treasury Building in Brisbane will help us to meet that need.”

The university will run its signature industry simulation events and tech hackathons directly from the CBD campus. These practical intensives bring together students from IT, business, law, and criminology to tackle real-world digital threats, delivering the exact cross-disciplinary experience modern employers demand.

Students who are already thinking about what it means

Master of Cyber Security student Henry Ng said the Treasury Building’s combination of heritage and technology makes the move unique.

“I think it’s really interesting to see a historic building like the Treasury Building being used for a future-focused field like IT,” Ng said. “That contrast between heritage and technology makes it quite unique.”

For Ng, the CBD location changes the texture of student life by lowering the barrier to professional networking.

“Being in the CBD also means we’re closer to industry, so it creates more opportunities to connect what we learn with what’s happening in the real world,” he said. “Being in the city also means more people will see and interact with Griffith students, which builds a stronger presence and makes the experience feel more dynamic.”

This perspective reflects how modern universities are integrating directly into city infrastructure. Griffith’s teaching framework is guided by an Industry Advisory Board—a panel of sector experts who align curriculum with current industry needs to ensure graduates possess highly targeted, hirable skills.

What opens alongside ICT

The Treasury Building will not function exclusively as an AI and technology hub. The campus will also house undergraduate and postgraduate business and law degrees, alongside postgraduate and executive education programmes.

By drawing thousands of local and international students directly into the heart of the city, the central hub will inject significant economic activity into the Brisbane CBD.

The new Brisbane City campus will complement Griffith’s existing presence at South Bank, home to the Queensland College of Art and Design, the Griffith Film School, and the Queensland Conservatorium.

Construction is currently underway, and the Treasury Building campus will officially open to students in 2027.

Published 6-May-2026