MacArthur Chambers

The MacArthur Chambers building and sites adjacent to the building, comprising an entire city block, were redeveloped in the late 1990s, creating the shopping mall MacArthur Central. In 2016, MacArthur Chambers contains the MacArthur Chambers Apartment Hotel, the MacArthur Museum and an Apple Store.

History

This building was constructed between 1931 and 1934 as the Queensland headquarters of the Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP), replacing two earlier AMP buildings on the site (built in 1877-1879 and 1885).

The AMP Society was formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 1848-1849 under the Friendly Society's Act of 1843, and was one of a number of benefit and friendly societies established in the Australian colonies in the mid to late 19th century. Founded by a group of prominent Sydney philanthropists, the AMP Society initially offered life assurance policies, endowments and annuities aimed principally at ensuring that women and children were not left destitute on the death of the principal income earner. Growth in the early 1850s was slow, but in 1857 the Society was incorporated by act of parliament, and by the 1890s it was the most prominent of the Australian benefit and insurance societies, with a worldwide reputation.

The first Queensland office (an agency) was opened in Brisbane in 1875. Purpose-designed offices were erected for the AMP in Brisbane in 1877-1879 and 1885 at the corner of Queen and Edward Streets, but these were replaced by the 1931-1934 building. It was a measure of the success of the society that its new Queensland headquarters were erected during the worst years of the 1930s depression.

Designed by established Brisbane architects Francis Richard Hall and Harold M Cook, the offices were constructed by local master builder George A Stronach (overseer Thomas Percy) with technical supervision by consulting Brisbane structural engineer RJ McWilliam, for approximately £255,000. Contemporary reports described the quality Australian materials, the high standard of craftsmanship, and the modern engineering techniques employed. The marble used throughout the building came from New South Wales and the building was faced with Helidon freestone. The granite used for the base was tested by the University of Queensland before construction, and was declared to be the finest granite in existence, with a crushing strength of 1,365 long ton/in² (21.08 GPa). Queensland company Evans Deakin & Co. Ltd manufactured the 1,150 long tons (1,170 t) of steelwork used in the building. The five girders spanning the ground floor banking chamber have a span of 43 feet (13 m) and each weighs 24 long tons (24 t). Construction of the steel framework using bolts rather than rivets was considered particularly innovative in Brisbane in 1932.

The emblematic statuary above the main entrance in Queen Street was carved by Fred Gowan of Sydney from Sicilian marble. The tableau illustrates the Society's motto Amicus certus in re incerta (a certain friend in uncertain times) and depicts an erect female figure, with a cornucopia by her right side, holding the palm of victory in her left hand. To her left is a seated woman and child; to her right a seated male. Until c. 1980 when the logo was changed, an Amicus tableau was erected on almost every AMP building, and usually was removed when the Society no longer occupied the premises. However, when the Society moved to new premises in Brisbane in 1978, the Amicus tableau remained on the Queen Street building.

The ground floor contained the vestibule, the manager's office and a spacious banking chamber, 136 ft × 87 ft (41 m × 27 m). The board room with adjoining luncheon room was on the eighth floor and featured a parquetry floor of Queensland timbers. Staff offices and facilities were provided on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors. The remainder of the building was tenanted.

The AMP building was one of several high-rise buildings erected in Queen Street in the 1920s and early 1930s. These included Ascot Chambers (1925), National Mutual Life Building (1926) and Colonial Mutual Life Building (1931, now the Manor Apartment Hotel).

The AMP building was officially opened on Friday 2 March 1934 by the Queensland Governor, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson.

Because of its central location and reinforced concrete roof, the building was used as the headquarters of the Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific during the Second World War. Tenants were compulsorily evacuated under military orders from 21 July 1942 until 14 June 1945. The AMP Society reserved the basement and part of the ground floor, while the Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces in South West Pacific Area, General Douglas MacArthur occupied the board room and his staff occupied the remainder of the building.

After the Second World War the building reverted to its former use as the AMP's Queensland headquarters until February 1978 when the Society moved to AMP Place in Eagle Street. In 1979 the ground and mezzanine floors were refurbished and leased as retail premises and offices. The building was re-opened and named MacArthur Chambers in honour of General MacArthur. In November 1990 the Brisbane City Council acquired MacArthur Chambers.

The MacArthur Chambers building and sites adjacent to the building, comprising an entire city block, were redeveloped in the late 1990s, creating the shopping mall MacArthur Central. In 2016, MacArthur Chambers contains the MacArthur Chambers Apartment Hotel, the MacArthur Museum and an Apple Store which was redeveloped and is owned by the Precision Group.