Monday, April 16, 2007

Gardens on Buildings


One thing which has fascinated me about Brisbane is the number of buildings which are covered in plant greenery. Even in this age of drought and water restrictions, around the city there are a number of buildings where even palm trees are the norm. I've tried to capture this to some degree in this post, when as I was walking down Adelaide Street, I came across two such instances. This is by no means unique, and I must stress that for any visitor to Brisbane, if you look around, you will see greenery everywhere.


The first of these is what appears to be a small plantation of bamboo which masks the Zen Bar at Post Office Square. If you ever have the opportunity to eat here, and they do fantastic Asian food, you get a wonderful view of both the park and what appears to be an Asian garden outside the window, rather than your standard streetscape. This is at 215 Adelaide Street.

Further up the road towards Wharf Street, one of the office buildings is quite literally covered. The three tiered balcony at the base of the building is currently covered in overflowing garden beds, interspersed with large palms and other trees growing up through the concrete. On each of the central balconies all the way up the spine of the building it is like an urban oasis. Colourful flowering plants reach to the edge and beyond each balcony. This is so much better than a drab grey building or shiny steel modern monstrosity! With our sub-tropical climate, even in drought these areas seem to continue to flourish. I love it!

Cheers, I Love Brisbane, Wes.

Click Here for the Google Map Reference for this post. (The Zen Bar, for want of something different!)

2 comments:

Brooke - Little Miss Moi said...

Dear wes. I had a friend who was an apprentice chef at the zen bar many years ago. She used to tell people she worked in a 'noodle bar' and the number of people who mistook that for 'nude bar' was really quite amusing!

Pollyanna said...

love it. That is a very interesting way to liven up a drab huge buiding huh? OY, I wonder if they have a full time staff that just weeds those gardens?