Brisbane - City Center

The city center, in a sharp bend on the Brisbane River, is laid out on a rectangular plan which makes it easy for visitors to find their way about. Streets running southeast/northwest are named after British kings and princes (William, George, Albert, Edward), the cross streets after queens and princesses (Ann, Adelaide, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Mary, Margaret, Alice). While in the 19th C most of the private houses in central Brisbane were built on stilts to adapt to the subtropical climate (though this is often concealed by later façades), the public buildings of the period were designed to impress, reflecting the increasing self-confidence of their Victorian builders.

The surviving 19th C buildings are in sharp contrast