Living Legacies - Torbreck Revisited

Brisbane Open House celebrates Brisbane's architecture, design and heritage and offers behind-the-scenes access to buildings across the city. In 2025, Brisbane Open House will open more than 90+ buildings across Greater Brisbane on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July. Visit www.brisbaneopenhouse.com.au for more details.

Brisbane Open House

Join an expert panel discussing Torbreck, Brisbane's 1960s high-rise, in the context of urban adaptation, density, and legacy.

Vokes and Peters

In the wake of the housing crisis, Australian cities are being asked to reimagine the idea of home, not as a quarter-acre block, but as something smaller, more flexible and shared. As housing affordability declines and the need for density increases, the freestanding home is no longer the universal model it once promised to be.Enter Torbreck. Completed in 1960 by Aubrey Job and Robert Froud, Brisbane’s first high-rise residential tower offered a bold alternative to conventional housing. Promoted as a “new concept in gracious living,” its modernist design and amenity-rich vision marked a radical shift toward vertical living in Queensland. Today, as we grapple with the realities of urban adaptation, Torbreck offers critical lessons in scale, resilience, and the reimagining of public amenity.As Torbreck continues to evolve through decades of residents, adaptations, and reinterpretations, its ongoing life raises deeper questions of authorship in architecture. When contemporary architects engage with existing buildings, what does it mean to design without dominating? How do we add to a place without erasing its origins? And how do we navigate the complex terrain between preservation and transformation in a way that respects both the past and present?Join us on 18 July as we examine Torbreck not only as a landmark of Brisbane’s architectural history but as a lens through which to explore how adaptation, authorship, and legacy intersect in contemporary practice. In a time of housing scarcity and climate pressure, what kind of city — and what kind of architectural voice — do we want to champion?Ticket includes a drink and light refreshments.

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