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Bundaberg Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 155a Bourbong Street,
Bundaberg Central Bundaberg Central is the central suburb and central business district of Bundaberg in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bundaberg Central had a population of 316 people. Geography The suburb is bounded by the Burnett River ...
, Bundaberg,
Bundaberg Region The Bundaberg Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the city of Bundaberg, and also contains a significant rural area surroundin ...
,
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 added to the
Australian Commonwealth Heritage List The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...
on 8 November 2011.


History

After JJ Clark's dismissal as
Queensland Colonial Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland, Australia with responsibility for the design of government buildings in Queensland. It was formerly known as the Queensland Colonial Architect. The position ...
in 1885, various emerging projects were left in limbo. One was the new Bundaberg Post Office, intended to replace a smaller post and telegraph office built in c.1879. Charles McLay, who like
John Smith Murdoch John Smith Murdoch (29 September 186221 May 1945) was a Scottish architect who practised in Australia from the 1880s until 1930. Employed by the newly formed Commonwealth Public Works Department in 1904, he rose to become chief architect, ...
was another Scot initially mentored by Clark, submitted designs for Bundaberg's new post office in 1886 to the new Colonial Architect, George St Paul Connolly. There were three of these designs in all - Connolly favoured internal competitions for Public Works designs - of which this one was chosen after revisions between 1887 and 1889. During this time McLay was promoted to chief draftsman in the Colonial Architect's office. He designed the Brisbane Customs House in 1886, a seminal late Renaissance-early Baroque design. He then designed the
Fortitude Valley Post Office Fortitude Valley Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 740 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Colonial Architect's Office and built in 1887 by William Ferguson. It is ...
of 1887, and prepared an unbuilt design for
Rockhampton Post Office Rockhampton Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 80 East Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George St Paul Connolly and built from 1892 to 1896 by Dennis Kelleher. It is also ...
which was similar in appearance to Fortitude Valley. The Bundaberg Post Office was constructed in 1890–1891; it also included a Crown Lands Department Office. The French Cable Co. began exchanging messages through the
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
via New Caledonia undersea telegraph cable which terminated at its office on the first floor of the post office in 1893. In 1907, the first floor Lands Office was converted into post master's quarters, possibly involving construction of timber stud-framed partition in north pavilion. Additions and alterations to the building were carried out in the mid-1950s, including the tower clock and mechanism, probably including new clock faces, and additions such as the garage, bicycle shelter and toilet block. About 1998, the building underwent major refurbishment of public spaces with replacement of original lath and plaster ceiling with plasterboard ceilings, installation of polished timber joinery and services; repartitioning of area behind public space for administrative offices; creation of continuous bays of private letter boxes within the northern end wing including a projection and new verandah facing Post Office Lane; construction of disabled access ramp to private letter box entrance from Barolin Street; construction of new stair and glazed partition in north pavilion, provision of business mail centre to north of public office, doors removed from corner clock tower entrance and replaced with automatic sliding glass doors, general upgrade of services and finishes throughout building. The work also included conversion of former private letter box area in the western single-storey bay to a lettable external revenue area. At some point in time, some original features were lost, including: * Original sunhoods removed from rear-facing windows * Cast iron ridge cresting (pre-1970s) and roof ventilators (post-1970s) removed * Original rendered finish overpainted


Description

Bundaberg Post Office is at 155a Bourbong Street, corner Barolin Street, Bundaberg, comprising the whole of Lot 11 RP147676. The Bundaberg Post Office is at the commercial centre of the large provincial city of Bundaberg and is located on the northwest corner of the Barolin and Bourbong Street intersection. In context, several notable late
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italia ...
designs are nearby, including the unusual palazzo-form St Joseph's Catholic Cathedral of c.1888-1900. Essentially L-shaped in plan, the original double-storey building is constructed hard up to the street boundaries at the corner of the site. The clock tower is set 45 degrees to the bulk of the building and dominates the intersection; there is a single-storey wing set back slightly from the frontage at both the north and west ends of the building. The remaining rear portion of the site is accessed via Post Office Lane which runs along the northern boundary. This area has been largely infilled with later building area over an extended period of time to provide a business centre, covered
loading dock A loading dock or loading bay is an area of a building where goods vehicles (usually road or rail) are loaded and unloaded. They are commonly found on commercial and industrial buildings, and warehouses in particular. Loading docks may be exterio ...
and additions to both of the single-storey wings. In details and represented style the building is in a largely astylar Italianate. The principal street elevations are screened by a double-height arcade. The ground floor arcade
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 membe ...
are square-chamfered components, with the suggestion of a Tuscan
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
carried in the moulding. This is sustained across the stilted arcades on the ground floor of each flanking pavilion. The street level is therefore lightly proportioned on a three-step
stylobate In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate ( el, στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the floor of the temple). The platform was built on a leve ...
, the upper level is a
verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...
with sculpted
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 ...
, Romanesque
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 impu ...
columns, and plain masonry pedestals interspersed with a cast iron lace
balustrade 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 ...
. The upper trios of wing front windows are set in a plain panel flanked by quasi-
pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
which are scored down their centres, topped with a short floral
frieze 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 ...
and then paired
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 ' ...
to support the
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...
above each wing. The two flanking pavilion wing pediments have plain panelled
tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
. The first floor openings to verandah areas contain paired half-glazed panelled timber doors. The corner tower is angled diagonally to the street corner, and has an astylar arched window set in a plain stuccoed wall at street level, an oriel
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a nar ...
in astylar Italianate at first floor level, two levels of rusticated walling enclosing three slot windows on the second floor and a voussoired arched window on the third. These are topped by a frieze of plain-surfaced brackets, a clock level with scored and chamfered quasi-pilasters similar to those on the first floor wing fronts, and a miniature basilica-fronted sixth level with an arch containing metal louvres enclosed in a pedimented breakfront, and two flanking "
aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...
" bays with orb finials and oval vents in their
spandrels A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
. The tower roof is an octagonal
mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
with a
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
-railed platform and crimped metal cladding, flagpole and
weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , ...
, and the main roof is a simply handled L-shape with two
gabled 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 ...
hips In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...
. The
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
floor has a non-original anti-slip textured finish. The building has two storeys with a 6-storey clock tower and includes the following elements: * Structural frame: Load-bearing solid brick, stone footings, timber-framed floor and roof, cast iron and timber-framed ground floor areas where clear spans required * External walls: Rendered brick with ruled
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 Vitr ...
finish to principal street elevations and rusticated banding to projecting pavilions and clock tower; tuckpointed face
brickwork 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 ...
to rear elevations flanking Post Office Lane; elaborate cast iron wall vents; cement mouldings * Internal walls: Generally hard plastered brickwork; some exposed timber-framed partition walls with V-jointed timber lining boards * Floor: Timber-framed and boarded throughout; moulded timber skirting boards * Ceiling: Lath and plaster throughout; beaded timber lining boards to arcade soffits * Roof: Gabled
hipped In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region ...
form with
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 ...
cladding, cast iron ridge cresting, metal ridge ventilators, ogee profile cast iron rainwater goods and boarded
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 ...
soffits; rendered brick
chimneys A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are t ...
with moulded caps. Skillion-roofed rear verandah and first floor arcade roof finished with corrugated galvanised iron and beaded board lining to soffits. Clock tower mansard roof clad with crimped metal with flagpole and weathervane. * Panelled polished timber doors, timber-framed double-hung sash windows, moulded polished timber
architraves In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel (architecture), lintel or beam (structure), beam t ...
and skirting boards, polished timber staircases. * Cast iron columns to ground floor public spaces and first floor verandahs with cast iron balustrade panels * Timber picket fences to part frontages


Condition

Externally, Bundaberg Post Office exhibits its original design exceptionally well with regard to the architectural conception, principal materials and detail, although cumulative works have resulted in the loss of some architectural detail and overall form, such as alterations to the flanking single-storey wings, painted wall surfaces and removal of the main entrance doors. Internally, original fabric and joinery remains, although cumulative refurbishment works throughout the building, particularly with regard to the changing uses of the spaces, have diminished the integrity of the original finishes. Similarly, works in relation to use and technology such as installation of floor linings, partition walls, suspended ceilings, mechanical ducting, joinery and the like have resulted in the loss of some original fabric and fittings.


Heritage listing

Bundaberg Post Office was listed on the
Australian Commonwealth Heritage List The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...
on 8 November 2011 having satisfied the following criteria. Criterion A: Processes Bundaberg Post Office, constructed in 1891 and incorporating a Crown Lands Department Office as well as offices of the French Cable Co., is a large regional postal facility which is an integral part of the city's historic central civic and administrative precinct, stemming from its rich history and wealth as one of Queensland's great coastal ports. The substantial dual frontage and landmark tower in scale and architectural achievement embody a prosperity and future confidence in the city of Bundaberg which stemmed in large from the region's importance to Australia's sugarcane, mining and horticultural industries, exploited from the 1870s. The scale of the colony and its resources, linked by rail and, in the case of coastal cities, sea, combined to produce prosperous large centres with less dependence on the capital than in other states. This is evidenced in the provincial centres such as Maryborough, Rockhampton,
Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...
and
Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...
, all of which had substantial masonry post offices erected. The significant components of Bundaberg Post Office include the main postal building and clock tower dating from 1891 and the single storey additions to both street frontages. Criterion D: Characteristic values Bundaberg Post Office is an example of: * a post office and telegraph office with quarters (second generation typology 1870–1929) with combined Crown Lands Department offices * the Italianate Style * the work of Charles McLay under the aegis of Colonial Architect, George Connolly. Typologically, Bundaberg Post Office built during 1890–1891, belongs to the second generation of Australian post offices built between 1870 and 1929. These offices are generally assumed to incorporate separate components for the telegraph and postal functions in addition to quarters for the postmaster, and in this case an equal measure of integrated government offices. The integrity and legibility of the original design in internal plan form has been somewhat diminished through alterations and additions, including blurring the relationship of the integrated government offices with the rest of the planning (other than their location at first floor level), and impacting on the original planning of the quarters component. However, the building still demonstrates some principal characteristics of the type including an accomplished application of style and endowment of monumental civic form; incorporation of frontal components such as offices, public spaces, clock tower, loggia and verandahs; and an increased size to reflect the increased volume of a rapidly developing region. With regard to operating post offices, Bundaberg Post Office is one of three "Type M3 Victorian Italianate" examples built in the period 1879–1898 with similar characteristics.Queensland University 1983 report As with the other examples such as Charters Towers Post Office (1892) and Warwick Post Office (1898), the large masonry buildings demonstrate landmark qualities on prominent corner sites with clearly defined frontal components, reflecting the prosperity of their regions and scale of their postal activity. Stylistically, the building's Victorian Italianate frontages are a fine representative example of large post office buildings of the period, though Bundaberg is similar in detail to the earlier
Classical Revivalism Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...
of the
Toowoomba Post Office Toowoomba Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 136 Margaret Street, Toowoomba City, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1878 to 1908 by John ...
(1879). In its departure from a squared or central corner clock tower with a single principal façade more typical of designs from the preceding couple of decades throughout Australia, to an angled corner feature flanked by equally weighted frontages, Bundaberg is consistent in planning with Warwick. Bundaberg Post Office is an example of the work of Charles McLay under the aegis of Queensland Colonial Architect, George Connolly. Criterion E: Aesthetic characteristics Bundaberg is a large-scaled building with impressive dual street frontages on a busy principal intersection and a very high degree of landmark quality. This is principally due to its repetitious double-height loggia and verandah screening both of the street elevations and the six level clock tower. It also shares an important civic precinct with the former
Commercial Bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with co ...
and the Bundaberg war memorial. Criterion F: Technical achievement Bundaberg Post Office is composed as a landmark corner building with two equally prominent street frontages and central clocktower, expressive of the dual, but independent, operations of the original post and telegraph functions. The placement of the corner tower on the diagonal to the main plan and street alignments has strong artistic merit and draws the eye to the building in three dimensions, a departure from the more common use of the corner tower at the time. Criterion G: Social value Bundaberg Post Office, built in 1891, to replace the former 1879 building on the same site is important for its association with the development of the city. It provides a visual and symbolic landmark for the local community and is of social significance for the continuity of postal services which have operated from the building for almost 120 years.


References


Bibliography

* GS Warmington and AC Ward, Australia Post Survey of Historic Properties in Queensland, Volume 1, 1991 *Register of the National Estate, ID 8726 *Chesterton Corporate Property Advisors, CISD Property Valuation Report, June 2005. *The Heritage of Australia, Melbourne: Macmillan, 1981, p. 4/10 *Conrad Hamann, (Federation architecture) in AGL Shaw, ed., Victoria's Heritage, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1985 *Hamann's 'John Smith Murdoch: Chronology of architectural connections and involvements', Melbourne: Lovell Chen and Associates, 2006. *Miles Lewis, 'The Victorian house', in Richard Apperly et al., The History and Design of the Australian House, Melbourne, Oxford, 1985. *Don Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, Brisbane: Museum of Queensland, 1994, p. 119–120.


Attribution


External links

* {{Australian Post Offices Commonwealth Heritage List places in Queensland Bundaberg Central Post office buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Australian Heritage Database Government buildings completed in 1891