The Printery is set in the historic heartland of the precinct.
Constructed between 1872 and 1912 across William and George Streets, the heritage-listed former Queensland Government Printing Office was the administrative backbone of the growing colony.
If you look up at the 1912 George Street façade, you’ll spot one of the precinct’s most intriguing architectural quirks: seven sandstone devil carvings, including gargoyles on the parapet holding “GP” shields and a relief directly above the main entrance. Rather than anything sinister, these figures honour the historic folklore of the printing trade. The term “printer’s devil” referred to young apprentices who were constantly smudged with black ink from mixing pigments and fetching type—a job associated with the “black arts”.
