Regatta Hotel is a heritage-listed

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

at 543

Coronation Drive Coronation Drive, popularly known as Coro Drive, is a road in Brisbane, Queensland which connects the Central Business District to the suburb of Toowong. It follows the Brisbane River from the Riverside Expressway, through the suburbs of Milton ...

on the corner of Sylvan Road,

Toowong Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people. Geography Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills w ...

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 faces the

Toowong Reach The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Gov ...

of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

and was named after the rowing regattas held there. 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 in 1886 by George Gazzard. 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

The first hotel was established on the site in 1874, as a single-storey wooden building. In 1886, the current and second Regatta Hotel, three-storeyed brick building, was erected for

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

publican William Winterford. The first building was removed to make way for the new premises. The new Regatta was designed by Brisbane architect Richard Gailey, who called tenders in February 1886. It was constructed by contractor George Gazzard, at a cost of £4,800. StateLibQld 1 123944 Yachts in the Toowong Reach of the Brisbane River in front of the Regatta Hotel, 1897

StateLibQld 1 123944 Yachts in the Toowong Reach of the Brisbane River in front of the Regatta Hotel, 1897

The Regatta was one of a number of large, masonry, first-class hotels designed by Gailey in the 1880s. Amongst these were the

Wickham Hotel Wickham Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 308 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Originally trading as the Oriental, it was designed by Richard Gailey and built in 1885 by ...

(1885), Prince Consort Hotel (1887),

Jubilee Hotel Jubilee Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 464–468 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Richard Gailey and built from 1887 to 1888. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Registe ...

(1888) and Empire Hotel (1889). They were designed not just for local patronage, but to attract travellers and visitors. Each replaced an earlier and much humbler hotel on the site, and in their ornate exteriors, they reflected the optimism and bravado of the booming Queensland economy of the 1880s. Winterford opened his new hotel in 1887, anticipating a clientele who would be enticed by the river views, the proximity to town and to the

Toowong railway station Toowong railway station is located on the Main line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Toowong. It is the closest station to the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. History Toowong station opened on 14 Jun ...

, the weekend regattas on the doorstep, entertainments such as billiards and boating, a well-stocked wine cellar, large well-ventilated bedrooms, family suites, the luxury of hot and cold baths, and good stabling accommodation. However, neither the hotel's comforts nor the Toowong scenery succeeded in attracting the desired patronage. StateLibQld 1 148471 Floodwaters around the Regatta Hotel, Toowong, March 1908

StateLibQld 1 148471 Floodwaters around the Regatta Hotel, Toowong, March 1908

It was first flooded in 1887, then again in 1893. Lack of wider custom, the financial depression of the early 1890s, and the floods of 1893, nearly ruined Winterford. In 1897, he forfeited the Regatta to his mortgagees. Ultimately, the Regatta survived and flourished through a number of owners and lessees. A famous

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

protest took place in the public bar in 1965, when two women,

Merle Thornton Merle Thornton (born 1930) is an Australian feminist activist, author and academic. She is best known for her 1965 action at the Regatta Hotel where she and Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to a bar rail to protest the exclusion of serving wo ...

and Rosalie Bognor, chained themselves to the public bar footrail in protest at Queensland's restriction of public bars to men only. The protest was the starting point which led to the law being changed in Queensland in 1970. In 2014 the hotel celebrated the protest with the naming of Merle's Bar. In 2009 as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia. Q15 ...

celebrations, "All chained up for women's rights" was announced as one of the

Q150 Icons The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland's first 150 years. ...

of Queensland for its role as a "Defining Moment". The hotel was refurbished in 1981 and then progressively renovated between 2001 and 2004. It was converted into several modern bars and nightclubs. In the late 20th century, the Regatta attracted

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

staff and students to its bars. The Regatta Hotel was damaged during the

2010–2011 Queensland floods A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in November 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least 90 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at ...

. $10 million was spent on renovations before an official reopening in September 2012.

Description

Regatta Hotel Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, circa 1940

Regatta Hotel back verandahs , Toowong, Queensland 02

The Regatta Hotel, located on a prominent site adjacent to the Toowong Reach of the Brisbane River, is a brick building with hipped corrugated-iron roofs. Composed of three storeys and a

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

, it is encircled by wide verandahs, except for a section on the southern side. The verandahs to the rendered street facades display a lavish use of

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

balustrading A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

, paired cast-iron

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

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. ...

and cast-iron and timber

friezes 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 ...

. These facades, which curve around the street corner, are surmounted by a solid masonry

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

ornamented by

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

finials A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower ...

. The more modest verandahs on the southern and western sides, now somewhat altered, have paired chamfered posts and

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

, and a continuation of the patterned timber frieze. A painted brick elevator shaft has been added to the southern elevation and a fire escape stair to the western elevation. The ground floor, consisting of three bars, service areas and an entry foyer, has been refurbished. Original openings to the verandah have been replaced by sliding glass windows and doors. Sections of the verandah have been enclosed in brick to house toilet facilities. The entry foyer retains the original entry doors and arched openings. The unusual timber staircase located at the rear of the entry foyer runs in a single flight between floors, curving at the lower end of the flight. Rooms on the first floor include a bar, a guest dining room, offices, kitchen, toilets and a guest suite. The bar, formerly a dining room, features a marble fireplace and a pair of curved

French doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...

opening onto the northeast corner of the verandah. The manager's residence and guest accommodation occupy the second floor. The interiors of the first and second floors retain original finishes including pressed metal ceilings and plastered masonry walls ornamented by arches and mouldings. Panelled timber doors with

fanlights A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. T ...

open off the central hallway. French doors with fanlights lead from the bedrooms and principal public areas to the verandahs. Parts of the first-floor northern and western verandahs have been enclosed with glass walls. The Regatta Hotel retains a substantially intact exterior and a visual prominence along the Toowong Reach of the Brisbane River. The Heritage Bar on the ground floor features leather lounges and a large fireplace.

Heritage listings

The Regatta Hotel is classified by the

National Trust of Queensland National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963. It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the e ...

and was entered into the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

. Regatta Hotel was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Regatta Hotel is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, being evidence of the optimism and exuberance of the 1880s economic boom and evidence of the former use of this part of the Brisbane River for sporting and recreational activities. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a large, ornate 1880s hotel which remains substantially intact. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. It exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, being a prominent landmark contributing to the riverscape along the Toowong Reach of the Brisbane River. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The Regatta Hotel has a special association with the work of architect Richard Gailey, being one of a group of large 1880s hotels designed by him, which contribute to the architectural character of Brisbane through their imposing presence, extensive use of cast-iron and classical detailing.

Gallery

File:Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, in 2020, 08.jpg, Regatta facade as seen from Sylvan Rd Image:Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, in 2020, 18.jpg, Regatta function room File:Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, in 2020, 13.jpg, The Courtyard Image:Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, in 2020, 04.jpg, Main Bar File:Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, in 2020, 05.jpg, Merle's Bar

References

Attribution

External links

*{{cite web, title=Women 'rattle the chains' in public bars, url=http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1264357/women-rattle-the-chains-in-public-bars, publisher=

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, accessdate=30 December 2015 — includes a 5-minute video of the ABC television news broadcast on 10 April 1965 History of Brisbane Heritage-listed hotels in Queensland Queensland Heritage Register Pubs in Brisbane 1874 establishments in Australia Richard Gailey buildings Hotels established in 1874 Hotel buildings completed in 1887 Coronation Drive Toowong Hotels in Brisbane Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Q150 Icons