He was born in Sydney, Australia, and educated at Canterbury Boys High School and later at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In the early 1950s, he moved to London, by way of New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands, during which time he worked briefly for Ngaio Marsh's theatre company. From initially earning a living by playing the piano in bars and clubs (he was briefly Noël Coward's rehearsal pianist), he developed an interest in design, establishing the fledgling Marble & Lemon decorative arts business in Cheval Place, Knightsbridge. This led to a partnership with the long-established New Bond Street dealer—Partridge Fine Arts—which began in 1957 and lasted well into the next decade. Bannenberg created the setting for the 3rd International Art Treasures exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1962—the design of which was described by "The Times" on 2 March 1962 as "well adapted to facilitate appreciation by the planning of its series of compartments".