Inchcolm is a heritage-listed former office building at 73

Wickham Terrace Wickham Terrace is one of the historic streets of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known as the street of private medical specialists. Geography Wickham Terrace commences at the western corner of the intersection of Ann Street and Whar ...

, Spring Hill,

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 Eric P Trewern and built in 1930 by J I Green & Son. It was converted into a hotel in 1998, and renovated in 2014. It now trades as Ovolo Inchcolm under the Ovolo Hotels Group. 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 23 March 1998.

History

This five-storeyed masonry office building was constructed in 1930, on a site which has been associated with the medical profession since the 1880s, when the first Inchcolm was established by Dr John Thomson. This building contained both his private residence and consulting rooms, and during the 1910s and 1920s it operated as a private hospital. The first Inchcolm was bought by the Wharf Street Congregational Church in 1925 with the intention of constructing a new church on that site. However, it was subsequently decided that the church needed a more centrally located site in the city, and so sold Inchcolm in 1929. Part of the site was purchased by Inchcolm Ltd, a group of medical practitioners initiated by George Douglas. The company commissioned

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 ...

architect Eric Percival Trewern, who was influential in popularising Georgian revival style in Brisbane domestic building during the interwar years, to design a new medical office building for the site, the present Inchcolm. The other part of the site was sold to a consortium who erected the neighbouring

Lister House Lister House is a heritage-listed office building at 79 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as the Brisbane Clinic. It was designed by Raymond C Nowland and built from 1930 to 1948 by J I Gr ...

. Constructed by builders J I Green & Son in 1930, Inchcolm was part of the interwar redevelopment of the medical precinct along Wickham Terrace, which included Brisbane Clinic (

Ballow Chambers Ballow Chambers is a heritage-listed office building at 121 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Lange Leopold Powell and built from 1924 to 1926 by John Hutchinson. ...

, Wickham House, and

Craigston Craigston is a heritage-listed apartment block at 217 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Atkinson & Conrad and built in 1927. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 Octob ...

. Their construction constituted the second phase (the first being in the 1880s) of Wickham Terrace's growth as a medical precinct, and was indicative of new directions toward specialist medicine in Queensland in the interwar years. Inchcolm was converted into a hotel in 1998, and was renovated in 2014. It now trades as Ovolo Inchcolm.

Description

Inchcolm is located at the eastern end of Wickham Terrace, overlooking the city centre, within an area dominated by buildings accommodating the medical and allied professions. The building comprises four storeys to

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 ...

level, with a basement and another floor above and behind the parapet. The

Georgian-style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...

facade is of

English 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 siz ...

face red brickwork, contrasted with rendered detailing. The ground floor level is rendered and scored to resemble

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, and the small projecting arched entrance is crowned by a

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 ...

and parapet. Internally the building is divided into suites of medical offices, accessed via a narrow central corridor on each level. The ground floor lobby features entrance doors with cut bevelled glazing, dark-stained

silky oak ''Grevillea robusta'', commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a tree, the largest species in its genus but is not closely rela ...

panelling to picture-rail height, plaster ceiling panels with moulded

cornices 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 ...

, and

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

borders in the passageway in front of the

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

, which is located in the middle of the eastern side of the building. This panelled and metal-meshed lift installation, which was designed to accommodate

stretcher A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

patients, is circled by a staircase which services all levels. The stairwell walls are rendered and pointed to resemble stone work. Although some remodelling of individual offices has occurred, the interior public spaces remain substantially intact and sustain the ambience of a 1930s building.

Heritage listing

Inchcolm was listed on the

on 23 March 1998 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Inchcolm is important in demonstrating the interwar evolution of Wickham Terrace as an important medical specialist precinct in Brisbane, and is associated with the development of specialist medicine in Queensland The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Inchcolm is an accomplished and intact building which is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a purpose-built interwar medical office building, including in the restrained design the assertion of medical specialist prestige The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. As one of a related group of classical facades, and in particular in association with adjacent Lister House, Inchcolm with its neo-Georgian facade exhibits a strong contribution to the Wickham Terrace streetscape, which is valued by the community 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 building has a special association with Brisbane architect EP Trewern, as an example of his work

References

Attribution

External links