The Embassy Hotel on the corner Edward and Elizabeth streets, Brisbane was constructed in 1928-9. It was designed by architect JP Donoghue and is a very 1920s hotel There are three defining characteristics that distinquish this hotel as of the 1920s era and which sets it apart from earlier hotels in Brisbane

The architectural style

The building is in the Commercial Palazzo style which is characterised by base (ground floor), shaft (levels 1-3 and cornice.

Cantilevered awning

In 1922, the Brisbane City Council adopted a policy that all new awnings over footpaths in the principal business streets were to conform to the cantilevered design. (Telegraph 12 November 1922). Consequently, a defining feature of 1920s hotels in the Brisbane CBD was the cantilevered awning. While the cantilevered awning was a distinctive feature of 1920s hotels in the CBD, it also had other consequences for hotel design. Until this time, hotels had awnings supported by posts with verandahs on the upper levels. Verandahs on the upper levels was very typical not only of hotels in the Brisbane CBD but throughout Queensland. No more in Brisbane, at least after 1922.

The lift and high rise

The Embassy Hotel was originally of four storeys ( a fifth was added in the 1950s). he inclusion of a lift in the Embassy Hotel is also a distinctive element of 1920s hotels. Brisbane CBD. Hotels built prior to World War 1 were generally of one or two storeys. Lift technology was not used extensively in any buildings in Brisbane prior to World War 1. In the 1920s, multi-storey buildings became more common and lifts were an integral part of these buildings. as in the Embassy Hotel.

Location