1 William Street, Brisbane

History of the site

The site was formerly bisected by Short Street and comprised a number of different allotments and uses. Buildings occupied the area as early as 1854 and it was used for a variety of functions including; manufacturing, warehousing, shipping, housing, and electricity generation.

The Queensland Government began purchasing the properties in the 1960s as part of their Government Precinct development scheme and began demolishing the existing buildings, some dating to the 1850s. The demolition of the adjacent Bellevue Hotel and construction of 80 George Street saw the spoil from there dumped on the 1 William Street site.

In 1974, the site was allocated for future government offices.

1 William Street is a 6778 m2 site, owned by the Queensland Government, and from 1982 until 2013 it was used as a government car park. The site encompasses a whole city block between William, Alice and Margaret streets and Riverside Expressway.

Cultural heritage significance

Before the redevelopment project began, the site was excavated by the Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a consultancy, in 2013 to find cultural remnants. As a result, 137 archeological features and around 600 artefacts, including ceramics and glassware, dating from the 1850s through the 1900s, were found on the site. The archeological findings indicated the influence of Victorian values and the availability of different kinds of domestic materials among working-class residents that lived on the site during that period.

Development

In August 2012, Expressions of Interest were called for from experienced organisations interested in bidding for the project. It was proposed that the site would be available to the successful party under a long-term lease arrangement and that the Queensland Government would take a long-term lease over approximately 75000 m2 of the office space in the development.

In September 2012, six developers were shortlisted to develop proposals for a new high-rise tower. The shortlisted companies were Cbus, Lendlease, Brookfield, Westfield, Leighton Properties and Grocon.

In December 2012, Cbus was announced as the developer for 1 William Street. The developer was granted a 99-year lease over the site and a guaranteed 15-year government lease for 60000 m2 of office space.

Design

1 William Street has a gross floor area of 119977 m2 and a net lettable area of 74853 m2 of office space, excluding retail which covers 1169 m2. The design includes 318 car bays.

About 60000 m2 has been allocated for government space, leaving around 15000 m2 to be subleased by the private sector. It is intended to receive a 5-star NABERS office energy rating and a 3-star NABERS office water rating. The building is the first new commercial office building developed for government in the Brisbane CBD since the completion of the government office building at 33 Charlotte Street in 2004.

The theme and colour scheme for each floor has been dedicated to a Queensland icon or natural phenomenon.

Construction

The construction, which was undertaken by Multiplex, commenced in early 2013 and was completed in 2016. The groundbreaking of the site, attended by Treasurer Tim Nicholls and Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney, was held on 4 March 2013.

From 1 October 2016, nine full departments and agencies, all state government ministers, most Directors-General and more than 5,000 public servants moved to 1 William Street. Some sections from 11 other departments also shifted to 1 William Street, while other sections of these departments moved to other buildings in the inner-city. Three buildings were demolished: the Executive Building at 100 George Street, the Executive Annex at 80 George Street and the Neville Bonner Building at 75 William Street. The demolition was completed in February 2018.

Tenants

The building houses between 5,000 and 6,000 public servants. The entirety of the 1 William Street building is occupied by various departments in the Queensland Government:

• Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business
• Department of Education
• Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation
• Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety
• Department of Housing and Public Works
• Department of Justice
• Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers
• Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development
• Department of the Premier and Cabinet
• Department of Primary Industries
• Queensland Corrective Services
• Queensland Fire Department
• Queensland Health (Department of Health)
• Queensland Police Service
• Queensland Treasury
• Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
• Department of Trade, Employment and Training
• Department of Transport and Main Roads
• Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism
• Department of Youth Justice and Victim Support

References

References

1. "Tenant Directory".
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8. Atfield, Cameron. (2 February 2017). "Brisbane office vacancy rates improve, despite addition of 1 William Street". [[Brisbane Times]].
9. [http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/1-william-street/15228 1 William Street – The Skyscraper Center] {{webarchive. link. (16 July 2015 . ''[[Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat]]''. Retrieved 3 October 2016.)
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11. (21 October 2016). "A Look Inside 1 William Street".
12. (2015-06-09). "Early Streets of Brisbane {{!}} Environment, land and water".
13. Sarah Vogler. (21 December 2012). "State Government announces successful bid for development of high-rise administrative complex at 1 William Street". News Queensland.
14. (2017). "Domestic archaeology of 1 William Street, Brisbane City". [[Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology]].
15. (28 September 2012). "1 William Street". The State of Queensland.
16. Urbanalyst Staff. (2 October 2012). "Six developers shortlisted for development at 1 William Street, Brisbane". urbanalyst.
17. Carter, Bridget. (13 December 2012). "Giants in battle for $1 billion precinct". [[The Australian]].
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19. Sarah Vogler. (21 December 2012). "State announces CBD tower developer". [[News.com.au]].
20. Daniel Hurst. (21 December 2012). "Green light for CBD skyscraper". Fairfax Media.
21. [https://brisbanedevelopment.com/1-william-street/ Plans for 1 William Street Unveiled] {{webarchive. link. (14 June 2016 , Brisbane Development.com)
22. [https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/people-built-1-william-street/ The people who built 1 William Street] {{Webarchive. link. (16 July 2022 , The Urban Developer)
23. (1 October 2016). "1 William Street: Moving day arrives for public servants in Brisbane". ABC.
24. Amy Remeikis. (4 March 2013). "Brisbane Live at Work: Monday March 4". Fairfax Media.
25. Hinchcliffe, Jessica. (21 October 2016). "Print Email Facebook Twitter More 1 William Street: Moving day arrives for public servants in Brisbane". [[ABC News (Australia).
26. (December 13, 2016). "It Begins: Queens Wharf Demolition And Advertising Plans Unveiled". The Urban Developer.
27. Field, Donna. (November 18, 2017). "Demolition levels Brisbane riverside for massive Queen's Wharf project in CBD". ABC News.
28. "CONSTRUCTION: Project Timeline".
29. (21 October 2016). "A Look Inside 1 William Street".
30. "Tenant Directory".