Shingle Inn

The Shingle Inn was built in 1936 in the City, then Brisbane’s premier shopping precinct. The tearooms and kitchen were established in the ground floor and basement of one of the four shopfronts of the existing City Building (built 1888) situated at the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets. The new cafe occupied the second shopfront from the Adelaide Street corner with its entrance facing Edward Street. The Shingle Inn was built for prominent Brisbane bakers David Webster & Co which established over 20 local refreshment rooms and cake shops. Designed in Mock Tudor style by Hall & Phillips, the Shingle Inn was to resemble an English wayside house. This gave it the unique character that made the cafe a Brisbane icon. With the demolition of the City Building for the Queen’s Plaza development in 2002, the Shingle Inn’s fixtures were removed and placed in storage until being installed in the refurbished City Hall in April 2013.