Architecture and Buildings, Published 2 July 2026
Standing in Brisbane's CBD, the building now home to Moo Moo The Wine Bar + Grill at the Port Office Building, 39 Edward Street, Brisbane City, is one of the city's finest and most intact surviving…
Standing in Brisbane's CBD, the building now home to Moo Moo The Wine Bar + Grill at the Port Office Building, 39 Edward Street, Brisbane City, is one of the city's finest and most intact surviving nineteenth-century government buildings.
Originally known as the Port Office, it was constructed between 1879 and 1880 to house Queensland's maritime administration. Designed by Colonial Architect F.D.G. Stanley and built by John Petrie & Son, the building played a vital role in managing shipping and harbour operations along the Brisbane River at a time when the waterfront was the centre of the city's trade and commerce.
The building housed the Harbour Master's Office and other marine officials responsible for administering shipping, navigation and port activities in Queensland's busiest port, reflecting Brisbane's rapid growth as an important colonial trading centre.
As Brisbane expanded and port operations gradually shifted downstream during the twentieth century, the building was adapted for other government uses. Its sandstone construction and elegant Victorian Italianate architecture ensured it remained one of Brisbane's most recognisable heritage landmarks.
During the late twentieth century, the Port Office Building was carefully restored and incorporated into the Stamford Plaza Hotel development, helping preserve its historic character. It was entered on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Around 2010, the building began a new chapter as the home of Moo Moo The Wine Bar + Grill. Today, diners enjoy a beautifully restored heritage interior that once served as the centre of Queensland's maritime administration.
More than 145 years after its construction, the Port Office Building remains an outstanding example of adaptive reuse, where an important nineteenth-century public building continues to serve the community while preserving its rich architectural and historical legacy.
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