Standing proudly next to the landmark Albert Street Uniting Church on the corner of Albert and Ann Streets in Brisbane's CBD, the redevelopment of Wesley House site is nearing completion.

When it is officially opened on Sunday 29 March, Wesley House will be a boutique nine-storey commercial building - and one of few to be awarded a 5-Star Green Star rating for 'Australian Excellence' by the Green Building Council of Australia.

The Wesley House will be the fourth structure on the historic site to provide vital facilities for the activities of the Albert Street Uniting Church congregation and Wesley Mission Brisbane. The first was a wooden Social Hall built on a cliff next to the Church in 1899, and used for services and serving meals for the destitute during the Depression years of the 1930s.

The cliff was levelled and the first single-storey Wesley House was built in 1940, and then demolished in the late 1950s to make way for the second, four-storey Wesley House. As use of the old building was extremely limited and maintenance costs were increasing, it was decided that redevelopment of the site was long overdue.

Turn the clock forward to 2009; Wesley House has been designed in partnership by Brisbane's Fulton Trotter Architects and Architectus Sydney, with funding from the Uniting Church Investment Service.

Development of Wesley House complemented renovation of vestries and crypt of the Albert Street Church that will now be connected to Wesley House with a paved walkway.

The building will incorporate a retail tenancy, fully-equipped commercial kitchen, and spacious function room on the ground floor; eight floors of prime-office space; and a roof top entertaining area for tenants to host networking and social events.

Design and frontage of the new building will vastly improve the streetscape. Opening up views of the heritage-listed Albert Street Uniting Church next door, the taller, copper and clear glass façade will cover a large blank wall and display a striking reflection of the Church's ornate red brickwork.

Albert Street Uniting Church Superintendent Minister Lyn Burden said that the construction of Wesley House is important for the continuing work of the Church, and will be a fantastic asset to Wesley Mission Brisbane. "Two of the key values of the congregation are hospitality and community," Lyn explained. "For nearly two years, our congregation has not had appropriate facilities to offer hospitality to the community or the Mission. These are vital areas of a congregation member's life and these facilities have been missed".

Wesley House has a number of innovative design features that will put it at the forefront of modern building standards, including:

use of environmentally friendly 'green' concrete made from recycled products

use of low emission construction material

floor to ceiling clear glass windows to maximise natural lighting

bicycle parking spaces to encourage tenants to ride to work

highly-efficient chilled beam air cooling

low energy lighting

a large basement rainwater storage area

As a result of these environmentally friendly features, Wesley Mission House was the first development in Brisbane to receive a grant ($206,000), from the Brisbane City Council's $10million Sustainable Development Grant for Offices program.

Architecture & Design Team

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