User:RachaelMellick/S.G.I.O. Building

S.G.I.O. Building

The S.G.I.O. Building is 26 storeys tall and has since been renamed the Suncorp Plaza. The building was completed in 1971. Once completed, it was Brisbane’s tallest building and played home to Conrad and Gargett Architecture for a number of years. Keith Frost, who passed away while still an active director of Conrad and Gargett Architecture, designed the building. The building is on the corner of Albert Street and Turbot Street, Brisbane, Queensland. It was originally designed for the State Government Insurance Office. Woods Bagot and Cox Rayner Architects refurbished the building in 2007.



Building History
The building was one of the first high-rise office structures in Brisbane. The building was also the tallest steel frame building in Queensland at the time. The complex is an example of Conrad and Gargett Architecture’s steel frame and concrete façade architecture. The original design incorporated an award wining plaza forecourt and fountain. The building holds particular significance in solar orientation, external shading, slender section and urban design innovations. The design set the pace for city development in the seventies, as the verandah-style windows sculpt out shadows from the Queensland sun. Lou Hailey commented on how once receiving the site, the firm decided on a north-south aspect because of climatic conditions in the city. To emphasize this, balconies were put on the north and south of the building in order to protect the windows. Hailey remarked that “Even the 23rd floor didn’t need curtains or blinds because the sun only came in [through the window] for two or three days a year in the middle of winter”. Hailey also believes that the S.G.I.O. Building is the most desirable building in terms of climate control in this city. Douglas Neal remarked that the passive climactic design and unimpeded views through the depth of the building are “a rare phenomenon in tower design”. The S.G.I.O. Building was one of the first buildings that reshaped Brisbane The building combined passive climatic design and imaginative core arrangement. The building offered two-way unobstructed views across the building, a feat not commonly seen buildings at this time. The S.G.I.O. Building demonstrates two aspects of the practice; the capacity to attract skilled and noted architects to corporate framework, and a regard for applying, quietly, sound design principles that embellish the life of their clients. The design had to reflect the stature of the owner. The S.G.I.O building was renamed as the Suncorp Centre after the regrouping in 1986.

Building Use
The SGIO Building was mainly comprised of offices. The ground floor entry was on the southern side of the building, which had eight rentable shop areas. Level seven was comprised of a roof garden and canteen space. The level was open plan with a metal feature ceiling. Each of the office levels was open plan office space, with services on the western wall providing sun protection. The services lift and fire stairs were on the eastern wall with balconies on the north and south sides of the building. Level twenty-four held the revolving restaurant, which has since been demolished. It featured an off-centre revolving floor, with kitchen and services on the eastern side and toilets and lift lobby on western side. A feature clock was housed on the roof of the building, featuring the letters SGIO (later Suncorp) above the digital numbers.

S.G.I.O. Theatre
The building played home to one of the most desirable theatres in the city, with advanced acoustic control. Government Architect Phillip Foilent detests the demolition of the SGIO Theatre, likening the sculptural and segmented ceiling to “being inside a cracked egg shell. It made going to the theatre a special experience”. The structure was steel framed with a concrete façade. The egg shell appearance was given by white reconstituted stone facing plates along the ceiling. The theatre was acoustically designed, with a specially designed ceiling and carpet detail, turned up 12 inches up the wall in order to form acoustic skirting. The theatre sat 611 people. The theatre was demolished in 2008 between February and June by D.E.C.C.. The theatre contained spray on asbestos as fire insulation on roof beams and bracing, with asbestos tiles on also on the roof. Access to the theatre was provided through Turbot Street into the lobby. The lobby contained a ticket counter, managerial offices and mirrored L- shaped staircases leading up to the promenade foyer This second foyer consists of a bar and toilets, while the staircase continued up to a balcony/mezzanine over the foyer. The balcony held couches and access to the theatre through a vomitory. Continuing up the stairs there was a lounge with couches and access to private boxes. The level above again held offices and the project room, with access to catwalk servicing the acoustic paneling and roof.