Brisbane Powerhouse

Located on Jagera Country Brisbane Powerhouse is Queensland’s home of contemporary culture and art. A magnificent power station of the 1920s reborn as an arts centre on the Brisbane River (Maiwar).

In the early 1900s, Brisbane City Council cast its vision towards a tramway system creating the Brisbane City Council New Farm Powerhouse, designed by council Tramway Architect Roy Rusden Ogg, and constructed in stages between 1928 and 1940.

At its peak in the post-war years, the New Farm Powerhouse supplied electricity for the largest tram network in the southern hemisphere and serviced many of Brisbane’s suburbs. The power station was officially decommissioned in 1971, and the now derelict building was a welcome shelter for the homeless, a location for filmmakers, and as a precursor of its future, a canvas for graffiti artists and a stage for underground art happenings.

Surviving two decades of neglect, and a partially completed demolition project, the building was reacquired by Brisbane City Council in 1989, and the power station was envisioned as a space for arts and culture. The redeveloped Brisbane Powerhouse, designed by Brisbane City Council architect Peter Roy was opened on 10 May 2000 by Lord Mayor Jim Soorley. Seven years later the building underwent a further stage of development and was re-opened on 6 June 2007 by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman.