Speakers:
Leah Gallagher, Kin Architects
Aaron Peters, Vokes and Peters
Dr Susan Holden, Architect and Educator and Researcher at the University of Queensland
In the midst of a housing crisis, Australian cities are being called to rethink what “home” means. The dream of the quarter-acre block is giving way to a future that is smaller, denser, more flexible — and often shared. As affordability declines and urban density rises, the freestanding home is no longer the default model it once was.
Enter Torbreck. Completed in 1960 by architects Aubrey Job and Robert Froud, Torbreck was Brisbane’s first high-rise residential tower — a bold departure from traditional housing typologies. Promoted as a “new concept in gracious living,” its modernist design and amenity-rich vision heralded a new era of vertical living in Queensland.
Today, as we confront the challenges of urban resilience, climate adaptation, and housing scarcity, Torbreck remains strikingly relevant. It offers enduring lessons in scale, density, and the role of shared amenity — while also prompting reflection on how buildings evolve over time.
Through decades of lived experience, alterations, and reinterpretations, Torbreck’s ongoing story invites us to explore deeper questions of architectural authorship. When working with existing structures, how can architects design with rather than over? How can we contribute without erasing? And how do we strike a meaningful balance between preservation and transformation?
Join Leah Gallagher from Kin Architects, Aaron Peters from Vokes and Peters and Susan Holden, architect, educator and researcher from the University of Queensland on 18 July as we revisit Torbreck — not only as a milestone in Brisbane’s architectural history but as a living legacy. Together, we’ll explore how adaptation, authorship, and heritage intersect in contemporary practice. In an era of ecological pressure and social need, what kind of city — and what kind of architectural voice — should we be cultivating?
You can also take a tour of two Torbreck apartments as part of Brisbane Open House 2025 – find out more here.