OUR HERITAGE AT RISK - QUEENSLAND - 2007

Place:    Queensland Character Housing

Threat:  Neglect and Devaluation of Heritage Values

State Advances Corporation (1928). Designs of houses: Workers’ dwellings and workers’ homes,

Front elevation of Design No. 18.

Significance:

Queensland character housing evolved in the dominant tradition of a house on timber stumps, with timber cladding usually of chamfer board or weatherboard and roofed with corrugated iron. Houses often featured one or more verandahs. The designs were simple and responded to the subtropical nature of the state’s climate. An extensive garden often accompanied the house

Character housing has been identified in local government authority Planning Scheme overlays, Schedules and Demolition Control Precincts.

Statement of Risk:

Degree of Risk:           At Risk – no solution agreed

Threats/Risks:             Deterioration

Fate/outcome:             Suffering

The pressure for development of land in Queensland has led to allotments being subdivided, challenges to the concept of a Demolition Control Precinct and infill development unsympathetic in design.

Desired Outcome / Vision:

Areas of character housing should be provided with greater protection against the pressures of development. Loopholes in the interpretation of building regulations need attention.

Bibliography:

R Fisher and B Crozier eds. (1994) The Queensland house: A roof over our heads, Queensland Museum.

‘Protected home razed’, Courier-Mail, 12-13 August 2006, p. 14.

State Advances Corporation (1928). Designs of houses: Workers’ dwellings and workers’ homes, Government Printer, Brisbane.

Queensland Workers Dwelling Board, early design circa 1914

Windsor Street Facade