The biggest and most anticipated, glamorous red carpet event of the year is here again! For the fourth year in a row, Brisbane Fashion Runway (BFR) will showcase the fabulous creations of this city’s talented up-and-coming fashion designers at an iconic site in Kangaroo Point.
Held at St Johns Cathedral on Ann Street on Saturday, the 12th of Oct 2019, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., eight designers will be debuting their latest and freshest ideas at the Brisbane Fashion Runway. Guests will get an exclusive first look at these creations whilst mingling and hobnobbing with social influencers and industry professionals like Rosanna Arkle, Ines Basic, Emilee Hembrow and Nicole Thorne.
Photo Credit: Brisbane Fashion Runway/Facebook
The designers who will be brandishing their work on stage have been carefully judged and selected amongst 80 hopefuls whilst receiving guidance from Brisbane’s top stylist, Kulbinder Singh. Before the night is over, one of them will go home with the honour of Brisbane Fashion Designer of the Year.
The models who will be strutting and catwalking on the runway have also been hand-picked and matched to the designers. This premier fashion event is also an opportunity for these gorgeous individuals to land an agency.
An iconic cafe location with an attractive view of the Brisbane skyline near Main Street and River Terrace in Kangaroo Point has been put on the market. The property, controlled by Brisbane City Council, does not just boast of a fantastic view. It also has an interesting history.
Before the cafe was erected at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in 2010, it was a school for children until 1965, when the Queensland Government turned it into TAFE.
TAFE Queensland, however, closed its Kangaroo Point location in 2009 to pave way for the park and dining precinct redevelopment. A year later, the revitalised location opened with a cafe offering the most breathtaking view of Brisbane CBD.
The building for lease is on 461 Main Street and has a 57-square metre floor area, as well as a 272-square metre space exclusive for alfresco dining.
Interested parties may submit their expressions of interest to CBRE until the 27th of Sept 2019. “We invite all quality Café and Restaurant operators to consider this amazing opportunity,” per Mr Lewis Torkington of CBRE.
The Kangaroo Point Pedestrian Bridge, the first of the Council’s planned five green bridges to be built across the Brisbane River, has moved a step closer to completion with the release of their preliminary business case.
Lord Mayor Schrinner confirmed that based on the preliminary business case, the Kangaroo Point Pedestrian Bridge, linking Kangaroo Point and the CBD, is feasible.
“The preliminary business case for the Kangaroo Point Pedestrian Bridge confirms the project is a feasible, value-for-money investment in our transport network,” Lord Mayor Schrinner said.
“The bridge will provide significant benefits for Brisbane, including positive impacts to lifestyle, amenity and tourism, and economic benefits resulting from improved accessibility to the CBD, which continues to be the driving force of our region’s economy.”
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
As revealed in the Key Findings report, the preferred alignment for the proposed pedestrian bridge is from the Alice/Edward Street roundabout to Scott Street, near the abutment of the Story Bridge with an alternate connection between the north east corner of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens and Thornton Street.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
A bridge linking Kangaroo Point to the CBD was originally proposed in the 1860s but did not come to fruition following a double whammy of 1890s economic recession and 1893 floods.
“Fast forward 150 years and a bridge linking Kangaroo Point and the CBD has re-emerged as a priority, with several recent Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council strategies and plans identifying the potential benefits of a new bridge linking Kangaroo Point and the CBD,” the Key Findings report said.
Artist impression | Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
The Kangaroo Point Pedestrian Bridge, estimated to cost $190 million, is projected to accommodate about 5,300 trips per day, with the number estimated to rise to more than 6,100 by 2036.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
Council will invest up to $550-million to deliver these five new green bridges at Kangaroo Point to the CBD, Toowong to West End, St Lucia to West End, Breakfast Creek, and Bellbowrie. The Council plans to fund at least two-thirds of the cost of these green bridges, with contributions for the balance of funding to be sought from the Queensland and Australian Governments.
The next stage of the project planning will involve community consultation slated in late 2019. Construction is expected to commence by 2021 with construction to be completed by 2024.
An application seeking approval to develop three 10-storey high residential towers over three stages on Lambert and O’Connell Streets in Kangaroo Point has been lodged.
To facilitate the development, the application also proposes the relocation of the three existing pre-1911 houses on Lambert Street and the demolition of the existing dwellings on O’Connell Street and Lambert Street.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Designed by Kris Kowalski Architects, the proposal involves the development of 200 high-density residential units within three towers, each with a maximum building height of 10 storeys. To accommodate the three towers, the application also includes reconfiguration of a lot component to create three lots and access easements.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
“The proposed development responds to and addresses the site’s contextual characteristics, together with the relevant design, planning and technical provisions of the planning framework, to create a development that will make a positive contribution to continued growth of the Kangaroo Point area,” the Mewing Planning Consultants Assessment Report said.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Tower 1 will be 10-storeys high with a partial penthouse level and will consist of 61 residential units: One (1) two-bedroom, 58 three-bedroom, and two (2) four-bedroom units. There will be 131 car spaces that will be provided, 121 residents and 10 visitor spaces.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Tower 2 will be comprised of 47 units: nine (9) one-bedroom, nine (9) two-bedroom, 28 three-bedroom, and one (1) four-bedroom units. The building will also be 10-storeys plus a partial penthouse level with 84 car park spaces, including 76 resident spaces and eight visitor spaces.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Like the other two towers, Tower 3 will also have a maximum height of 10-storeys plus a partial penthouse level and 111 car spaces, including 97 resident and 14 visitor spaces. The tower will contain 92 units: 36 one-bedroom, 54 two-bedroom, and two (2) four-bedroom units.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
There will be a total of 1,624sqm of communal open space, at the ground level and on the rooftop of each tower, which will include swimming pools, lounge areas, outdoor dining, and outdoor gym.
Every August since 1997, Brisbane hosts a massive long-distance fun run called Bridge to Brisbane to raise funds for charity. From fewer than 5,000 participants in its first year, the crowd has increased up to ten times in recent years as the event has become an annual tradition in Queensland.
On its 23rd year, Bridge to Brisbane will once again take place on Sunday, the 25th of Aug 2019, from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Racers may join in the 5km or 10km run to set a new record, beat their own best time in previous races, or simply join to give their heart muscles a good workout.
Race Course Details
WHAT
WHO
WHERE
5km 9:30 a.m.
VIP Charity Runners
Orange Runners
Aqua Joggers
Walkers
Beginning at Captain Burke Park, 5km runners will pound over the iconic Story Bridge, looping back through Kangaroo Point and then descending down to South Bank to cross the finish line in your best time ever.
Photo Credit: Bridge to Brisbane
WHAT
WHO
WHERE
10km 6:00 a.m.
Elite Sporting Wheelies Blue Elite Runners Red Elite Runners VIP Charity Runners Green Runners Yellow Joggers Walkers
The 10km course will kick off near the top of Roma Street Parklands in Spring Hill. The 10km route will take you over three iconic Brisbane bridges and have you finishing at South Bank.
Photo Credit: Bridge to Brisbane
Runners have to sign up and pay for the corresponding fees to register and run as an individual or a team. You should receive your runner’s kit in the mail if you’ve signed up weeks ahead but late registrants may also receive their kit on race day.
Participants who finish well may win cash prizes for 3rd Place ($500), 2nd Place ($1,000) and 1st Place ($2,000) per category.
At least 21 Pace Setters will be joining Bridge to Brisbane to help racers reach their goals or guide them through the course. Be on the lookout for these runners with colour-coded balloons.
After the race, some participants can head to the South Bank Parklands for the pop-up picnic where a catered satisfying meal will be served. This is a pre-booked event as space is limited.
Runners also have a chance to win a luxury trip for two to Hawaii with their race entries. Make sure to keep your registration ticket. Aside from a chance to go to Hawaii, you may also score discounts at participating establishments as your reward for joining the run!
Photo Credit: Bridge to Brisbane/Facebook
For more fun, Bridge to Brisbane will also award the best-dressed individual or team during race day. So, consider racing in your best costume to win $300 or $500.
Elsewhere, performers will be entertaining the runners, their supporters and the crowd at these venues all around the city:
WHERE
PERFORMER
Cultural Centre Tunnel
Underground Opera
Main Stage, Finish Village
Graham Moes (guitar slinger) Lesi Little Drummers (kid drummers) Roving Bush Band (traditional Australian bush tunes) Jason McGregor and The Smyths (cover band)
South Brisbane War Memorial Park
City of Brisbane Pipe Band
Ivory Street Tunnel
DJ Waria (old school DJ)
Captain Burke Park, Story Bridge
Ribbon and Bubble Stilt Walkers Jackie Marshall (jazz singer) The Party Girl (dancers) Dance Masala
Those who have no plans to register and run may still participate in the fundrasing efforts by giving a one-off donation or starting a fundraising campaign in your community. You may donate the money you raise to a charity of your choice or The Courier-Mail Children’s Fund.
To register and start your own campaign, visit Bridge to Brisbane’s fundraising page. You could win a pair of Glycerin running shoes from Brooks just by initiating a campaign.
Photo Credit: Bridge to Brisbane/Facebook
Meanwhile, as this is a city-wide event, several streets across CBD will be closed for the event. Non-participants may check the map below for the “Road Closed” symbol so that you can plan your day better.
If you’ve missed this event this year, there’s always next year. If you’re planning to sign up, it’s highly recommended that you train weeks ahead of the fun run. For more information about training for Bridge to Brisbane, check out this page.
In anticipation of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Story Bridge in 2020, the Brisbane City Council has announced that the tendering process for the biggest restoration project in the history of the iconic structure is now underway, as Council prepares to select a contractor.
Works involve stripping its old paint, cleaning it, and giving it a facelift. Restoring the iconic bridge will require 33,000 litres of paint and is expected to cost around $80 million. The paint restoration will prolong the life of Queensland’s iconic bridge and will help ensure that the local road network continues to be safe and accessible for all users.
Not only are we building the new bridges BNE needs as it grows, @team_schrinner is also investing in protecting our critical assets like the Story Bridge.
That’s why I’ve allocated funds to kick-off the biggest restoration project ever carried out during the bridge’s history. pic.twitter.com/KnFXeSEK5i
“Not only are we building the new bridges & transport infrastructure Brisbane needs as it grows, Team Schrinner is also investing in protecting our critical city assets like the Story Bridge,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said in a Facebook post.
“That’s why my recent budget allocated funding to kick-off the biggest restoration project ever carried out during the bridge’s history,” he added.
Story Bridge restoration project is anticipated to start early 2020 and will take five years to complete. This will be the first time Story Bridge will be repainted since it was built between 1935 and 1940.
Council will announce the successful contractor late 2019 and will provide further information to the community as the project progresses and before any works begin on site.
Join the united Slavic community and get a feel of their vibrant culture at the Slavic Markets Brisbane happening in Kangaroo Point on 4 August 2019 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Held every first Sunday of the month, the Slavic Markets Brisbane proves that it is more than just a typical monthly bazaar as it offers patrons a creative, fun, and home-like atmosphere that celebrates Slavic culture.
If you are into homemade food and drinks as well as high-quality Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Serbian products, this market is definitely the place to be. At the market, you get to immerse yourself in the Slavic culture, widen your own personal network, and support small businesses of the Slavic community.
Photo credit: Salvic Markets Brisbane/ Facebook
The Slavic Markets Brisbane will be held at 140 Main Street in Kangaroo Point. Admission for the market is $2 per person.
Although the venue is quite small, rest assured that you will still enjoy your time at the event since all stallholders are offering something unique
Things to check out at the Slavic Markets Brisbane
If it is your first time attending the Slavic Markets Brisbane, here are some of the things sold at the market that you might want to try:
Burek
Burek is an iconic Balkan phyllo pastry that is filled up with meat, feta, onions, spinach, and sweet cream. This delicacy can be eaten at any time of the day, and it also best to be paired up with yogurt or a bottle of beer.
Photo credit: Salvic Markets Brisbane/ Facebook
Medovik
Medovik or honey cake is a multi-layered cake of flat biscuit that has a rich, flavourful and creamy honey-yogurt filling that is often topped off with walnuts. This creamy torte has a soft texture that easily melts in your mouth on each bite. Medovik is best served and eaten together with your favourite hot tea.
Photo credit: Salvic Markets Brisbane/ Facebook
Kolbasa
Kolbasa or “sausage” is an iconic Slavic cuisine that is quite similar to a bologna sausage. It is made up of ground meat that is carefully wrapped up and preserved- making this dish popular and full of flavour. Kolbasa has a lot of variety, and it can also be eaten or paired up with almost anything, may it be as a pizza topping, a sandwich spread, or as an appetizer to any alcoholic beverage.
Photo credit: Salvic Markets Brisbane/ Facebook
Ethnic Style Design and Fashion
Stand out from the crowd with traditional Siberian-inspired fashion wear. All items, may it be a vest, skirt, pants, or accessories, are uniquely done and well-matched to the fashion trends that are present today.
The heritage-listed Scott Street Flats in Kangaroo Point continues to bring character to the suburb as it transforms to be a part of modern development. The historic building not only catches the eye but its story also captures the hearts of many as it is one of the works of Queensland’s pioneer woman architect, Elina Mottram.
Explore the beginnings of Scott Street Flats and uncover its role in paving the way for women to enter into the professions in Queensland, especially the architectural profession.
Elina Mottram
Photo credit: Queensland Board of Architects/Wikimedia Commons
Elina Mottram is the first woman to open her very own architectural practice in Brisbane in 1924. She was also Queensland’s first and longest practising woman architect.
Born in 1903, she was an only child of building contractor Arthur Mottram. Her father’s profession likely played a significant role in encouraging her to become an architect.
Mottram is considered to be the most successful of Queensland’s early women architects. This is probably because, out of nine pioneering women architects in Queensland who practised before WWII, she was the only one who pursued her architectural career during her entire working life.
Only two of Mottram’s work remains in Brisbane. These are the Scott Street Flats in Kangaroo Point and Monkton in Corinda.
Professor Francis William Sutton Cumbrae-Stewart. (Photo credit: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Negative number: 183361)
Mottram designed the purpose-built Scott Street Flats for Professor and Mrs Cumbrae-Stewart.
At the time, the number of new flats constructed in Brisbane grew steadily from the early to mid-1920s. The decision to build the Scott Street Flats around 1925 was an enterprising move for Mrs Cumbrae-Stewart. The building served as an investment whilst providing a convenient home for her and her husband in their later years.
The Cumbrae-Stewarts moved to the flats, which became known as “Scott House” in 1930. When Professor Cumbrae-Stewart retired in 1936, the couple relocated to Melbourne where Mrs Cumbrae-Stewart was born.
Photo credit: Shiftchange/Wikimedia Commons
The Scott Street Flats is a great example of early purpose-designed flats. It helps in illustrating the interwar preference for Old English or Tudor Revival as well as Spanish or Mediterranean design themes.
The introduction of purpose-designed flats offered a range of new domestic features which can be observed in the Scott Street Flats. The two-storey building contains two flats, each occupying a full floor with identical floorplans.
Mottram strategically designed the flats to enable back-of-house movement between bathroom, kitchen, laundry, and maid’s room whilst maintaining formal living spaces and bedrooms that offer stunning views of the city and the Brisbane River.
Scott Street Flats Now
Photo credit: Google Street View
The heritage building is now incorporated into the new Walan Apartments at Scott Street, Kangaroo Point. Aiming to preserve and promote the important work of Mottram, the developers retained the original flats and changed its use.
The Scott Street Flats now serves as a communal space with facilities for all of the building occupiers to use. According to the developers of Walan, the integration of the historic building for its new use at the site can positively impact the long term conservation of the heritage place.
Finalisation works on Stage 1 of Kangaroo Point Bikeway upgrade from Goodwill Bridge to Veloway 1 are nearing completion, according to a progress update from the Brisbane City Council.
Construction of Stage 1A started in June 2018 which involved upgrade works done along Lower River Terrace from Veloway 1 connection at the Pacific Motorway underpass to the Dock Street and Little DOck Street intersection.
Improvements and features of Stage 1A include a new four-metre-wide bi-directional bikeway extending 320 metres along Lower River Terrace and Dock Street; pedestrian paths and access enhancements; tree planting and landscaping; and an improved bicycle crossing at the Lower River Terrace and the V1 intersection.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
Upgrade works from the intersection of Little Dock Street and Dock Street to Goodwill Bridge is continued on in Stage 1B, which began in early 2019.
Features and improvements of Stage 1B include the installation of a “shared street”, a paved roadway surface at the shared zone, and a raised zebra crossing points, as well as the construction of an improved pedestrian and cyclist facilities beside the Griffith University Film School and the removal of the cycle ramp and redirection of cyclists to the new dedicated bikeway.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council / brisbane.qld.gov.au
Stage 1C involves the upgrading of Dock Street and Vulture Street intersection where the Woolloongabba and Kangaroo Point Bikeways will meet. Aside from footpath upgrades and landscaping, other improvements include increasing the size of the concrete traffic island on Dock Street and building out the kerb on the western side of Dock Street.
Funding for the upgrade project between the Council and the Cycle Network Local Government Grants program of the Queensland Government, with the state government contributing half of the funding.
In an aim to improve safety for pedestrians in Kangaroo Point and extend the life of C.T. White Park Lookout, Brisbane City Council has launched a rehabilitation project for the structure.
The works will involve installing rock armour scour protection around the structure support piles to protect from future erosion.
According to council, majority of the construction works will be undertaken from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, Monday to Saturday. Sunday works may also be undertaken where tide conditions are favourable.
BCC noted that the works will only affect the ‘jetty’ platform off the main Riverwalk, so pedestrians will still have full access to the main Riverwalk along C.T. White Park during construction.
There will be no visible difference to the lookout structure after the work is complete because it will be carried out under the surface of the water.
Works already started in June 2019 and depending on weather and construction conditions, the project should be complete by August 2019.
For more information about the C.T. White Park Lookout rehabilitation project, visit the Brisbane City Council website.
About CT White Park Lookout
CT White Park Lookout structure is a ‘jetty’ platform that comes off the main Riverwalk located approximately 200 metres south along the boardwalk from the Thornton Street ferry terminal.
The park was named in 1950 after Mr Cyril Tennyson White, an early Government Botanist who resided in Main Street Kangaroo Point.
It is located at 22 Bright Street and features boardwalk and jetties, ferry terminal, picnic area/shelter, playgrounds, shared pathway, toilet, water and bike rack.
