St Paul's Young Men's Club is a heritage-listed former clubhouse and now art gallery at 48 d'Arcy Doyle Place (formerly Nicholas Street),

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

City of Ipswich The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The C ...

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 George Brockwell Gill and built in 1911. It is also known as Ipswich Regional Art Gallery and St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall. 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. A ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

St Paul's Young Men's Club is a two-level brick building constructed in 1911 as meeting rooms for St Paul's Young Men's Society. The architect was George Brockwell Gill. The construction of a building for the Society was first proposed in 1907 and in September of that year, Lady Chelmsford, wife of the

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

, visited Ipswich to open a bazaar to begin fundraising. Plans were prepared by architect George Brockwell Gill in late 1908 and tenders were called, but the lowest tender of £1030 was beyond the Society's capacity. Further fundraising was undertaken and the foundation stone ceremony was finally carried out on Saturday 11 March 1911 by Justice

Charles E. Chubb Charles Edward Chubb (17 May 1845 – 27 February 1930) was a judge in the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia. He was also a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and an Attorney-General of Queensland. Early life Chubb was born on ...

. The building was opened in December 1911 by Archdeacon Arthur Rivers. The Society's aims were to promote spiritual, intellectual and physical development and the building included a reading room, gymnasium, bath room, billiard room and piano, all for ''"wholesome exercises for body and mind"''. The Society's activities included sport, impromptu speeches and mock parliamentary debates. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, a Soldiers' Rest Room was proposed for Ipswich and the St Paul's Young Men's Society offered their hall. A patriotic committee composed mainly of local women obtained additional furniture for the hall and also ran the rest room. In 1938,

Ipswich City Council The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The ...

decided to buy the building. The city's need for a new Town Hall and additional Council offices was a recurrent issue in Ipswich over many years and the purchase of the hall was part of a compromise solution. Petitions against the proposal were received but the purchase went ahead in 1939 and the building was used to accommodate Council engineering staff. The glass bricks on the western wall might date from this period but this is uncertain; they were in place by at least the early 1960s. In 1975, the city library was moved into the building and about the same time, the external brickwork was painted cream to match the new Civic Hall opposite. In the 1980s, the Library was relocated and the building was renovated as Ipswich Regional Art Gallery. Internal modifications included sheeting across windows to provide more hanging space. At some time, date uncertain, a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper ...

or roof vent appears to have been removed. This is suggested by the geometry of timber supports in the ceiling structure.

Description

The St Paul's Young Men's Hall is a simple two-storeyed load-bearing brick building with a painted exterior finish. The plan form is essentially a simple rectangle with an additional north-facing annexe at the western end. The external walls were originally facebrick in

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...

. A sandstone

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

stone is on the western wall at street level. The building is on a steep slope and on the northern side, entry is to the upper floor. The roof is

corrugated galvanised iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a ...

with ridge ventilators, narrow

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

and slatted timber infill to

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

ends. These details together with the timber multi-paned windows contribute to the building's restrained Federation character. The windows on both levels of the south street alignment are rectangular while those on the western elevation are arched, flanking a semi-circular headed window with projecting keystone, surmounted by a further horizontal window; most windows on this elevation are now filled with glass bricks. The interior of the building has a fine upper floor ceiling space with exposed

queen-post A queen post is a tension member in a truss that can span longer openings than a king post truss. A king post uses one central supporting post, whereas the queen post truss uses two. Even though it is a tension member, rather than a compression ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

es and a ceiling above lined with

tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together t ...

boarding.

Heritage listing

St Paul's Young Men's Club - Art Gallery 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. Completed in 1911, the former St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall is important as an example of a purpose-built hall and meeting rooms for a church-based club. A brick building with restrained Federation detailing, it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, particularly as part of a group of civic buildings in the vicinity of the Limestone St/Nicholas Street intersection. It was closely associated with patriotic groups during World War I when it was used as a soldiers' rest room. It is also closely associated with the work of Ipswich City Council in providing important cultural services for the community - a library and later an art gallery. It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Completed in 1911, the former St Paul's Young Men's Society Hall is important as an example of a purpose-built hall and meeting rooms for a church-based club. It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. A brick building with restrained Federation detailing, it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, particularly as part of a group of civic buildings in the vicinity of the Limestone St/Nicholas Street intersection. The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. It is a good example of the work of prominent Ipswich architect George Brockwell Gill, showing his skill in designing a small community building on a limited budget. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. It was closely associated with patriotic groups during World War I when it was used as a soldiers' rest room. It is also closely associated with the work of Ipswich City Council in providing important cultural services for the community - a library and later an art gallery.

References

Attribution

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Young Mens Club Ipswich Queensland Heritage Register Ipswich, Queensland Community buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Clubhouses in Queensland Art museums and galleries in Queensland Church halls in Queensland