Old Mineral House is a heritage-listed
warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
at 2
Edward Street,
Brisbane City,
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia. It was designed by
Richard Gailey
Richard Gailey, Sr. (22 April 1834 – 24 April 1924) was an Irish-born Australian architect.
Gailey was born in Donegal, Ireland and emigrated to Australia in 1864, becoming an influential and prolific architect in colonial-era Brisbane. He di ...
and built from 1888 to 1890s by William Anthony. It is also known as Smellie & Co Warehouse and the Industrial High School. It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992.
History
![Building of Smellie Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Building_of_Smellie_Co._Ltd._Hardware_Brisbane_Queensland_ca._1920_-_cropped.jpg)
This warehouse was constructed for the firm of Smellie & Co in 1888 with extensions in the late 1890s.
[
RR Smellie & Co was established in the 1860s as a foundry and engineering works in Alice Street, producing cast iron products for the building industry, and equipment for steamships and locomotives. In the 1880s, RR Smellie & Co altered the orientation of its business, concentrating on importing machinery, implements, and general hardware supplies. The repair and manufacturing plant of RR Smellie & Co was continued by Smith, Forrester, and Co. In 1882, the company became known as Smellie & Co.][
The change in direction of the business meant that Smellie & Co required warehouse space. A double-storeyed warehouse was constructed further along Alice Street but these premises proved to be too small as the business prospered in the 1880s. In 1888 a new warehouse, designed by Richard Gailey, was built for the company on the corner of Edward and Alice Streets in 1888. A three storeyed building, it was erected by William Anthony who had tended for the project. The warehouse stocked a diverse range of hardware, engineering requisites, and farming equipment.][
]
The warehouse was flooded in the 1893 Brisbane flood
The 1893 Brisbane flood, occasionally referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 or the Black February flood, occurred in 1893 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Brisbane River burst its banks on three occasions in February 1893. It was the ...
.
Two storeys were added to the building in the late 1890s as a result of the continuing expansion of the company's business.[
In 1930 this building was leased to ACB Limited, drapers, and in 1935, the ]Department of Public Works
This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure.
See also
* Public works
* Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
became lessees. The Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
purchased the property in 1945, along with a number of buildings owned by the firm in the area. Smellie & Co Pty Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1946.[
The Department of Public Works has used this building for a variety of purposes since 1945. These uses have given the building its various names – Naval House, the Industrial High School, and Mineral House.][
The Industrial High School moved into the building in 1947. The school had previously been at the Central Technical College (now the ]Gardens Point
Gardens Point is a peninsula in central Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located south of Alice Street and bounded by the Brisbane River on its other three sides.
The Brisbane CBD lies immediately to the north of the point. Gardens Point ...
campus of Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...
) but the conditions there were very cramped.
In 2015, the building is occupied by a number of businesses including Cox Architecture.
Description
Old Mineral House, situated on the corner of Edward and Alice Streets, is a five storeyed building of rendered brick, with a cast iron and timber internal structure and timber flooring.[
The street facades are visually divided by rendered vertical bands imitating stonework into three bays in Edward Street, and five in Alice Street. The ground floor level is rendered to simulate broad segmental arched openings with ]keystones
A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
, some containing a pair of windows and others single large openings. The main entry is in the central bay of the Edward Street facade and has a semi-circular arched opening with flanking pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
supporting an austere projecting entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
and cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
. Paired window openings are situated in the bays on the first and second floors. These are spaced to fit the size of each bay and have rendered quoined surrounds.[
A ]frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
with a cornice above marks the top of the original building. The same bays are continued above this to the new parapet but contain different types of window openings. On the fourth level each bay has three window openings consisting of a wide central one, flanked by narrower openings separated by small pilasters, while on the fifth level, the openings are arched. Another cornice runs around the top of the building at parapet level. Classical pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
s free of ornament are situated at the parapet level of the central bay of each street facade. The parapets step to a raised central section which stands above these.[
Internally the building's structure is predominantly intact. It consists of cast iron ]columns
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
supporting timber beams on the lower levels and timber beams and columns on the additional upper levels. The staircases and lifts are more recent additions.[
Walter's Steakhouse and Bar currently resides on the ground floor level of Old Mineral House.
]
Heritage listing
Old Mineral House was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
As an example of an intact late Victorian era warehouse with classical detailing][
For the disciplined manner in which it articulates the corner and terminates both the Alice and Edward Street streetscapes][
For its association with the firm of Smellie & Co, a prominent Queensland importing, engineering and iron founding firm of the nineteenth century][
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
As an example of an intact late Victorian era warehouse with classical detailing][
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
For the disciplined manner in which it articulates the corner and terminates both the Alice and Edward Street streetscapes][
The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.
For its association with the firm of Smellie & Co, a prominent Queensland importing, engineering and iron founding firm of the nineteenth century][
]
See also
Other Smellie & Co buildings:
* Smellie's Building
Smellie's Building is a heritage-listed warehouse at 32 Edward Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Claude William Chambers and built from 1895 to 1896. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Re ...
, Edward Street
* Britannia Foundry
Britannia Foundry is a heritage-listed converted foundry at 210 Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built . It is also known as Smellie & Co Warehouse and Public Works Depot. It was added to the Queen ...
, Alice Street
References
Attribution
Further reading
*
External links
{{commons category-inline, Old Mineral House
Queensland Heritage Register
Heritage of Brisbane
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register
Edward Street, Brisbane
Commercial buildings completed in 1888
Richard Gailey buildings
Schools in Brisbane
Alice Street, Brisbane
Warehouses in Queensland