Hall’s commercial designs were for CBD buildings, of which only the Grosvenor Hotel remains.
Indeed of Hall’s 34 commercial building (including hotel) designs in Brisbane, only three examples remain – the Forester’s Hall in Fortitude Valley and the Kedron Park and the Grosvenor Hotels. All except the Kedron Park Hotel were in the Central Business District (CBD) and the Grosvenor Hotel is the only remaining example of J. Hall designed five hotels and planned additions for four other hotels in Brisbane. Hall was a prominent Brisbane architect who began his private practice in 1864 before going into partnership with his son Francis Richard Hall in 1883. The owners of the 320 George Street property, Henry John Ferguson, Margaret Mortimer and Charles Mortimer contracted the architect and property speculator John Richard Hall (1835-83) to design the Grosvenor Hotel. Built during the 1880s economic boom, the new Grosvenor Hotel reflected the confidence and prosperity that permeated the colony of Queensland at this time.
