Queensland Building

The Queensland Building was built for a subsidiary insurance business of Burns Philp Co Ltd in 1891. The building reflects the best of design and construction in Australia at the time. Land was purchased in 1890 and Burns Philp engaged Sydney architect Mark Cooper Day to design the building for the North Queensland Insurance Company. Day had recently designed ‘Gowan Brae’ at Pennant Hills outside Sydney for James Burns (now part of The Kings School). Construction was carried out by John Petrie and Sons, who had recently completed the Brisbane Customs House. Work was supervised by local architects Eyre and Munro. The design is complemented by the 1895 Burns Philp building on the opposite corner of Wickham Lane and Flinders Street. Together these buildings provided a gateway to the Burns Philp wharves on Ross Creek. This successful insurance business dropped the word ’North’ from its title in 1907 and the company evolved to become QBE Insurance. The building was damaged during Cyclone Althea in 1971 and was purchased by the Townsville Harbour Board in 1972, which leased the upstairs offices. The building has had a number of owners since then. The adjacent Museum of Tropical Queensland was built in 2000.