Wenley House is a heritage-listed

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

at 20–30 Market Street, Brisbane City,

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 mainlan ...

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. It was designed by Thomas Taylor and built in 1864. It is also known as Jewell's Building. 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

This warehouse was erected in 1864 by Maurice Moses Jewell, who came to Queensland in the early 1860s, after working as a builder in Sydney. In September 1863 he purchased this site at the corner of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and Market Streets, which was close to the wharves along the Town Reach of the Brisbane River. Work began in January 1864 on the construction of what became known as Jewell's Building. Architect for the project was Thomas Taylor, a partner of local firm Furnival and Taylor. Taylor's design of six individual tenancies maximised potential return for Jewell. By July 1864 advertisements in the Queensland Daily Guardian advised space to let in the building, and various merchants and shipping agents took up leases. Jewell died on 17 January 1869, leaving the property to his wife Rachel. Following her death on 6 March 1873, the title was transferred to Emanuel Barnett and Co, importers and warehousemen, which they held until 1919. Subsequent to the decline of the shipping and warehousing activity in the area, the building has been used for a variety of purposes.

Description

This 1864 commercial building in the Georgian manner, has a strong visual impact among highrise commercial developments. It is a two-storeyed rendered brick building with basement and consists of six separate tenancies. It is symmetrically planned with each tenancy having its own entry with flanking windows, giving the facade a certain repetitive nature. The windows on the upper level are aligned with those below. A curved

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 ...

is located over the two central tenancies at parapet level with the words "WENLEY HOUSE" following the curve of the parapet and the date 1865 centred below. The entry doorways have keyed surrounds with grotesque faces located on the

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

. There is a continuous pronounced cornice below parapet level, and a continuous band as a sill to the upper level windows. The lower level windows have individual sills supported on moulded

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 ' ...

. The rear of the building is divided into symmetrical

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 aesth ...

ended sections that have central openings originally intended for goods delivery and serviced by small overhead gantries. These openings are flanked by double-hung windows on both levels. The end bay at the rear has been extended across the laneway. The laneway and rear of the building are also visually important. Internally, in the tenancies at each end, roof

trusses 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 ...

are still visible. From the basement of some of the tenancies herring-bone strutting can be seen between the joists of the floors above. Some of the floor levels have been modified to suit the different tenancies.

Heritage listing

Wenley House 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. It is evidence of the former shipping and warehousing activity in the part of the city close to the Town Reach. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Wenley House is a rare example of an extant 1860s warehouse in the Brisbane central business district. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Wenley House is a fine, intact example of a commercial building designed to accommodate separate tenancies, with individual entries, roofs and loading gantries. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The building contributes to the streetscape of Market Street by virtue of its form, scale and detail.

References

Attribution

External links

{{commons category, Wenley House, Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register Brisbane central business district Heritage of Brisbane Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Warehouses in Queensland