Site Research

Plans have been submitted by Brisbane City Council to transform Howard Smith Wharves into one of the city's most defining features. It will occur in three stages as outlined below:

1. Hotel and Tourism Precinct


2. Restuarant, retail, gallery, entertainment and commercial precinct


3. active outdoor recreation, entertainment and community facilities

Precinct 1 is situated on the western side of the site and includes the area directly under the Storey Bridge. Existing sheds, building and wharves will be retained and a new building will cater for short term accomodation, resturants, shops, tourism boat operators, visitor centre, offices, indoor sport/gymnasium and recreational facilities.

Precinct 2 is located in the centre of the site and will offer a combination of new buildings and public open space with uses including restuarants, retail, galleries and commercial opportunities

Precinct 3 is located on the eastern edge of the site and will boast a large proportion as accessible and attractive parklands, a range of facilities including bbqs, picnics, play equipment, public toilets, wharves and river access, new access paths and lifts to connect top and bottom of site, the rehabilitation of the severely damaged 170m timber wharf in front of the current wharf buildings and finally, repairs to ensure the integrity of the world heritage buildings. Below are artistic representations of phase 3 of the project.

The site also has rich history which should be explored to gain insight into any features which should be retained, rebuilt or could act as inspiration for future designs for the area.

Howard Smith Wharves were originally constructed in the 1930s in conjuction with the Storey Bridge. It was aimed at becoming one of the largest employment generating facilities of the Forgan- Smith government. It was originally built as the Brisbane Central Wharves but was leased by the Howard Smith Shipping company. The construction of buildings began in 1934 with the first structure being a two storey reinforced concrete building. Other buildings included three berths and five storage sheds. During 1941 and 1942, World War 2 disrupted the site and five air raid shelters were built below the cliff face. These shelters still remain and are examples of some of the most intact air raid shelters within Australia, as shown below.

Since Howard Smith moved downstream, other users of the site have included the Water Police, and the Queensland Government for storage purposes.This background information has showed the cultural and hertiage significance of the site and its importance to Brisbane city.

The Brisbane floods of 2011 significantly affected the site and Brisbane City Council's development proposal. This is obviously a very signifiacnt factor which should be considered for the future.