MUSEUM OF BRISBANE

Welcome

Welcome to the Museum of Brisbane, where you’re invited to immerse yourself in the evolving life of Brisbane, from its rich history to its vibrant contemporary culture. Located in the City Hall building in the Brisbane City Centre, you’ll enjoy easy access to a range of both permanent and changing exhibitions which can be browsed at your leisure. 

Museum of Brisbane is a social history museum and contemporary art gallery which celebrates the creatives and history-makers who deepen our understanding of place. We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Brisbane and surrounding areas, the Yaggera, Turrabul, Yuggarrapul, Jinabara, Quandamooka and neighbouring clan groups. We wish to acknowledge and pay our respects to the 60,000 years of continuous culture and history of the land upon which we are privileged to operate. 

Since its opening in October 2023, Museum of Brisbane has welcomed over five million visitors from all walks of life to over 170 exhibitions. The evolving collection strives to reflect Brisbane’s people, its passions, and communities, by sharing stories that showcase the incredible diversity of our city, spanning topics such as art, identity, politics, migration, music, fashion and even skateboarding! The exciting line-up of exhibitions offer accessibility features including Auslan interpretations, audio descriptions and touch trolleys for patrons to get hands on with our art. 

The Museum of Brisbane strives to make your visit inclusive, informative and inspiring! 

Entering the City Hall Building

Museum of Brisbane is housed within the grand City Hall building, one of Brisbane’s most significant heritage and cultural icons. Built in the 1920’s and taking 10 years to construct, it is a large heritage-listed sandstone building that has played an important role in the lives of Brisbane communities, and has welcomed famous guests from The Rolling Stones to Queen Elizabeth II.

It features some artwork on its exterior facade by artist Daphne Mayo. There are also several bronze sculptures out the front of the building including some lions and a statue of King George V mounted on a horse, which were added in 1938 as part of a tribute from the citizens of Brisbane to King George V. 

Once you step inside the entrance from King George Square, you will find yourself in a large foyer that exudes elegance and a sense of grandeur. Imposing Corinthian columns stretch towards intricately arched and decorated ceilings. Beneath your feet, black and white mosaic tile flooring features a large central circular geometric pattern and external borders known as a ‘meander’. Two sweeping marble staircases lead to the upper levels of City Hall. There were 3 types of marble used in the interior finishing of City Hall with the white marble used for the staircases sourced from Carrara, Italy – from the same quarry as Michelangelo’s Statue of David. 

To get to the Museum, you will follow the brightly coloured directional signs for Museum of Brisbane. These signs lead to the lifts located on the right-hand side of the foyer. These lifts are covered in brightly coloured artwork and say “Museum of Brisbane. You will need to press the “Up” button to call the lifts. If you are unsure, you can ask City Hall staff at the concierge desk on the ground floor for directions. Once you enter the lifts you will press “Level 3” which will take you directly to Museum of Brisbane’s reception.

Entering Museum of Brisbane 

As you step out of the lift on Level 3, there are white lockers directly in front of you where you can safely leave your backpack or bags if you would like to. You can take small belongings with you into the Museum, like your phone or wallet. However, to keep the artwork safe, you cannot take any larger bags, food or drink. Turning right, you will enter another room where you’ll find the reception desk with some friendly staff who will be available to help guide you through any questions you have about the Museum or tours. You can come back here if you decide to join a Clock Tower Tour during your visit. 

If you would like to take a rest, you can sit on one of the chairs provided and look through the large windows, which offer a view of the historic copper dome ceiling of City Hall's auditorium. The copper dome roof over the auditorium is 31 metres in diameter and is supported by a brick base which allows the interior to be unobstructed by columns. The dome is comprised of over 20 tonnes of copper. In the centre of the roof sits the Oculus [or Grand Lantern], which is original and 4.9 metres wide, made from bronze, manufactured at a cost of 609 pounds by William Bedford Ltd, of Melbourne. The dome was inspired by the great Pantheon in Rome. 

If you wish to enter the Museum, follow the corridor towards the entrance of the Museum's gallery space. When you continue down the hallway, you will pass our gift shop in front of you and to your left. This curated collection of unique and mostly one-of-a-kind pieces by local makers is well worth perusing, either now or at the conclusion of your museum tour. 

Touring the Exhibits

Further down the hallway, there are glass doors that open on their own. You can walk through them to discover more of our exhibitions. 

After you walk through the glass doors, you can choose to explore a variety of different exhibitions. Directly in front of you there is a small room with a semi-permanent collection of art and photographs that tell some of the Aboriginal and Torres-Strait islander stories of Brisbane. This includes delicately woven baskets, beautiful paintings and photographs. 

If you turn right instead of walking straight ahead, you will enter a large gallery space featuring an ever-changing collection of exhibits revealing a wide range of different kinds of art and stories presenting a strong sense of place and people. In the exhibition space, there is white text printed on the walls which describes each exhibit in more detail. There are also small white cards with black text describing each individual artwork or artefact. Each exhibition also offers something called a “touch trolley”. These touch trolleys are designed to give guests an extra immersive experience and are particularly helpful for guests who are blind or have low vision. These trolleys contain examples of the artworks and objects in the museum that you can touch safely so you know how they feel. This might include paintings, postcards, materials, stone and other textural elements. You can also ask our friendly staff if you need assistance accessing Auslan interpretations or Audio descriptions of our exhibitions. 

The Clocktower Tour and Lift

Clock Tower tours are an additional extra that guests can book during their visit to Museum of Brisbane. When you leave the gallery space, you will go back the way you came down the hallway and past the gift shop. If you want to book a Clock Tower tour, you can approach the friendly staff at the reception area, or you can book the tour online on your own device. The Clock Tower tour will depart from the reception desk. A staff member will call out your name when it is time, and you will follow them through the door to the right of the desk and past a glass window. You’ll climb a small flight of steps, which lead to the original black and bronze Clock Tower cage lift. This is one of the oldest working lifts in Brisbane, with an ornate door and crafted in the art deco style of the year it was made. It was initially installed in 1930 as a service lift to take the workers up to service the clocks and bells. When the door is open and your guide invites you forward, you will step down into the lift. The interior is decorated with grey and gold paint with 2 rectangular mirrors on the left and right sides. There is dim lighting at the top of the lift and a small fan. To the right of the entry is the original lift handle, a small desk and a panel with buttons, which will be operated by your Tour Guide. As your group ascends to Level 10, the lift will pass behind the analogue clock faces. Each clock face is 4.8 metres wide. The tour will come back and visit these features later. 

The Clocktower and Observation Deck

The Clock Tower used to be the tallest structure in Brisbane from 1930 to 1967. For this reason, the tower was fitted with a red beacon at its apex to warn aircraft of its height. From the top of the tower to the street is 87.47 metres with the observation platform at 64 metres. Originally a trip up the tower cost six pence for adults and three pence for children. The clock tower cost £79,699 pounds and 11 shillings to build in the 1920s, roughly 12% of the construction budget of City Hall. It was recorded that people could read the clock (with binoculars) from as far as Camp Hill. In 1930 the bells could be heard from as far away as Wynnum. The clock chimes every 15 mins from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday. 

When the lift arrives at Level 10, the Tour Guide will open the door. Once you are outside the lift, you will follow the Tour Guide up the stairs. There are 28 steps in total, and the flight will narrow at the top. From here, you will arrive at the Observation deck which overlooks an incredible, panoramic view of the City of Brisbane. Some of the amazing things visible from the observation platform include the Albert St Uniting Church, which was built in 1889, Macarthur Chambers which was the base of operations for American General Douglas MacArthur during the Second World War, and Roma Street Station. 

As you gaze across this progressive, cosmopolitan capital city, take a moment to contemplate the historic Brisbane of a bygone era. The Museum of Brisbane and City Hall offer captivating insights into the rich heritage and history of what was once considered a ‘big country town’. 

On your way back down in the charming Clock Tower lift, you’ll make a brief stop at the clock faces we mentioned earlier for a closer inspection. 

The Gift Shop

Arriving back at the Museum reception, you’ll have another opportunity to browse through our unique and welcoming gift shop. Many guests like to purchase a keepsake or two to remind them of their visit to Museum of Brisbane. 

In our gift shop, you will find a whole range of beautiful souvenirs and wares from over 200 local makers. You will find beautiful ceramic bowls in a kaleidoscope of colours from Brisbane makers like Dai Li, Ever Ceramics, and Erin Lightfoot. Other items you might discover include stickers, artwork, t-shirts, jewellery books, and much more! All our items for purchase are carefully chosen and are often one-off pieces or one-of-a-kind. We are proud to support local creative talent, and you will find that many of our pieces available for purchase are locally made and/or crafted. Here, you will find souvenirs that are iconically Brisbane, and unique pieces you won’t find anywhere else. 

Accessibility

There are several different public transport options you can choose to get you to the Museum of Brisbane. There are several buses that stop along Adelaide Street and Ann Street as well as many services which stop in King George Square and Queen Street bus terminals. All these drop-off points are located a short walk from City Hall and Museum of Brisbane. If you prefer to travel by train, Museum of Brisbane is a 10-minute walk from Central and Roma Street train stations. For public transport journey planning and ticketing information, please contact TransLink on 13 12 30 or visit translink.com.au. For guests arriving by car, there is undercover paid parking available in King George Square car park with entrances on Adelaide Street and Roma Street. 

The main museum floor is designed to be wheelchair accessible. Museum of Brisbane offers an accessible bathroom, which can be found inside the Museum on the right-hand side of the corridor as you enter the gallery space. There are also additional accessible bathrooms located on the ground floor of City Hall. 

Inside the museum, there are several measures set up to ensure everyone has an enjoyable and inclusive experience. In the exhibition space, there are tactile indicators which lead patrons who use a cane to Braille QR codes that will open audio descriptions of our exhibition content. Sensory maps are also available both online and in person at the Museum. During our quiet hours a break-out space is also available for patrons who require it. As mentioned previously, guests may like to avail themselves of our touch trolleys, which can be requested upon arrival at the museum. Auslan interpretations are also available via QR code in some of our exhibits.

Service dogs are welcome throughout the Museum of Brisbane. The closest toileting area for service dogs is in King George Square. 

It should be noted that our Clock Tower tour requires patrons to walk up 28 steps. For patrons who cannot manage this, we offer a video version of this tour. We also have a photo social story that shows these stairs to patrons so that they can make an informed decision on whether they are able to manage these stairs. 

We offer social stories on our website for almost all our products and services and update them regularly. 

Museum of Brisbane is open daily from 10:00AM to 5:00PM. The Museum is located on level 3 of City Hall, 64 Adelaide Street, Brisbane. Our trained staff are on-hand to help throughout your visit. If you have any questions about access prior to visiting, please feel free to contact the helpful and inclusive Museum team on 07 3339 0800.