Riverside
Centre - 142metres 40 storeys. Completed 1986. Harry
Seidler & Associates.
Australia's Harry Seidler's 3-sided Riverside Centre paved the way
for future river front office developments. It incorporates an extensive
plaza below that focuses on its position on the river and is alive
on the weekends as a place for the Sunday riverside markets.
Seidler's renowned use of sunshade awnings is prevalent on the Riverside
Centre, something that should maybe be used on all buildings in Brisbane's
hot climate? But the south-facing facade is notably absent in its
awnings. Why? You tell me. Someone told me that someone
did not want to put them on that side because it would save some people
some short-term money. Take that short-term monetary saving and compare
that to an increase in air conditioning loads per year and you will see
that it was INDEED a very short-term superficial saving most likely.
They were sitting in a shed somewhere out Inala way and some GENIUS decided
to recycle them on the 111 George St project by Robin Gibson Architects
even though the architects there had painstakingly spent time designing
their own unique awnings for that building, it nevertheless had the honour
of having another building's awnings slapped onto it. What an honour.
Riverside
Centre on left as viewed from Waterfront Place from the south.