Our Boys Institute (OBI) was a junior branch of

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, catering for boys aged 13–18, a forerunner to the various youth groups which flourished in the first half of the twentieth century such as the

Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christianity, Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman William Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade), Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun acti ...

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, etc. OBI promoted a Christian philosophy and also ran camps and provided employment assistance for young men. Our boys plaque

OBI had its own purpose-built premises at 221

Wakefield Street, Adelaide Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting Adelaide city centre, the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square, Adelaide, Victoria Square in the centre of the city, ...

, which were opened in 1896, and included lecture and games rooms, indoor running track and pool. At its opening on 23 February 1897 there was an exhibition match of basketball between boys from the OBI and the YMCA, the first recorded basketball match in Australia. F. W. Dancker was the architect for the building. The carved sandstone

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

façade of the building was listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

on 24 July 1980. The façade of the Our Boys Institute bears similarities to the Chicago Athletic Association Building; it has been suggested that Danker was influenced by the club and its architect,

Henry Ives Cobb Henry Ives Cobb (August 19, 1859 – March 27, 1931) was an architect from the United States. Based in Chicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in the Richardsonian Romanesque and Gothic revival, Victori ...

. The building has since been used as office space and an external studies college and was converted by architects JPE Design Studio to a boutique hotel in 2008. The hotel opened as Wakefield Residence but has since changed the name to Adabco Boutique Hotel. A plaque on the facade of the building commemorates the role played by Lady Victoria Buxton, the wife of the South Australian Governor, Sir Thomas Buxton. Lady Buxton, who lived in Adelaide between 1895 and 1898, was a Christian philanthropist who supported the

Mothers' Union The Mothers' Union is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. In addition to mothers, its membership includes parents, men, widows, singles and grandparents. Its main aim is to support monogamous marriage and f ...

and YWCA.Joan B. Huffman, 'Buxton, Lady Victoria (1839–1916)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 Our Girls' Institute was a similar organization run under the auspices of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. Phoebe Chapple (1879–1967) and Edith Lavington Tite (1877–1955) were prominent leaders.

References

{{Reflist YMCA Buildings and structures in Adelaide Gothic Revival architecture in Adelaide South Australian Heritage Register Child-related organisations in Australia South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate