Old State Library Building is a heritage-listed former

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

building at 159 William 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 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 is also known as the former

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist mu ...

. 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 21 October 1992. Originally constructed for the

opposite Queens Gardens, the building contained the

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

from 1902 to 1988, when the State Library was relocated to the

Queensland Cultural Centre The Queensland Cultural Centre is a heritage-listed cultural centre at Grey Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the South Bank precinct on the Brisbane River. It was built from 1976. The major compone ...

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

History

StateLibQld 1 53896 State Library of Queensland's reading room, Brisbane, 1902

This building was constructed in two stages. The three-storeyed William Street section was erected by the Queensland Colonial Government between 1876 and 1879, as the first purpose-built home for the

, which had been established in 1855. The four-storeyed extension was erected in 1958–59 as the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

's major

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

project. In 1876 the design for the first section was completed under the supervision of

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 ...

FDG Stanley Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839—1897) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect. Many of his designs are now heritage-listed buildings. Early life Stanley was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 1 ...

, and a construction contract for was let to W Macfarlane. The building was erected as stage one of a complex which was to incorporate two flanking wings housing the main staircases, and an arcade and colonnade fronting the river. The choice of a classical style of architecture, modelled on 16th century Italian buildings and its central location close to the city's southern entrance, reflected the museum's importance in the scientific and cultural life of Brisbane. The building was completed and occupied early in 1879, but proved inadequate for museum purposes. In 1881 the area below was levelled and the basement was extended. By 1884 the government was setting aside funds for a new museum building, but economic depression necessitated the museum remaining in the cramped William Street premises until removed to the former Exhibition Building at

Gregory Terrace Gregory Terrace is a road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Geography Gregory Terrace commences at an intersection with Wickham Terrace and College Road in Spring Hill (). It travels in a north-easterly direction through Spring Hill, Fortitu ...

in 1899. A contract was let in September 1900 for conversion of the former museum building into premises for the free

Public Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contain ...

, established in 1896. The library opened in the refurbished building in April 1902. The name was changed to the

in 1971. The John Oxley Library, established in 1926 as the principal centre for research material on Queensland history, was housed in the State Library building from 1931. As a major centennial project, the library building was extended in 1958–1959, at a cost of over . The additions, designed by government architects WG Thain, P Prystupa, U Stukoff, AJ Wheeler, D Davies and H de Jong, included an exhibition hall on the western side and reading rooms on the river elevation. In 1958 national competitions were held for designs for a

wall mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

and sculpture to embellish the exterior of the new Centennial Hall. These were won by

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

artist

Lindsay Edward Lindsay M. Edward (1919–2007) was an Australian abstract artist, mosaicist and teacher. He was born in Victoria on 26 August 1919. Edward studied at the National Gallery Art School from 1938 to 1941 under Charles Wheeler and W.B. McInnes. F ...

for his glass mosaic mural, and Brisbane sculptor

Leonard George Shillam Leonard and Kathleen Shillam were Australian sculptors. In 1976 they were awarded life membership of the Society of Sculptors, Queensland. On 26 January 1986 they were appointed Members of the Order of Australia. It was cast by the Non-Ferrous Foundry of Brisbane. The extensions were opened officially in August 1959 by Princess Alexandra. From 1964 to 1965 the original building underwent a major renovation, including the addition of a concrete frame structure, new floors, a

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

and air conditioning and the removal of the

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

, at a cost of over . The exterior brickwork may also have been rendered at this time. The William Street frontage remained largely intact, as one of the city's few surviving 1870s facades. The State Library of Queensland (including the John Oxley Library) moved to new premises in the

in 1988, and the building has since been used as library storage.

Description

The Old State Library Building is situated between William Street and the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

, overlooking Queens Gardens. It was the first of a major series of government buildings: the

Treasury Building A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...

, the Lands Administration Building, and the

Family Services Building Family Services Building is a heritage-listed office building at 171 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George Gerald Hutton and built from 1914 to 1922. It is also known as former Admi ...

, which surround Queens Gardens. It is adjacent to the

North Quay porphyry wall William Street retaining wall is a heritage-listed embankment at William Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1889 to 1970s. It is also known as William Street & Queens Wharf Road retaining wall ...

. The Old State Library Building consists of two main parts; the original 1879 neoclassical structure and the 1959

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

extension. The original building was a three storeyed masonry structure with a sandstone facade. The facade is designed using classical elements, with a rusticated base and double-height columns rising from the

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

to support an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

. The centre of the facade is marked by an aedicular containing an arched doorway, at ground level (the original entrance, now blocked in) and a small pediment above in the entablature. The large unfluted columns with lotus leaf

capitals 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 f ...

form a colonnade in front of the second and third storeys.

Corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s rise through the entablature above each

column 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 member. ...

. The top pediment is marked by stretches of

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 con ...

. All the windows in this front facade are arched. The interior of the first section was substantially remodelled in 1964–1965, with the addition of a concrete frame structure, new floors, a

and air-conditioning. State-Library-Mural

The 1958–59 modernist extension, to the west and south, is of four storeys, only one of which appears above William Street. The William Street frontage features a random patterned wall at the main entrance under a low-pitched copper-sheathed roof. The western wall is decorated with Lindsay Edward's large glass mosaic mural, , the design suggesting "primitive organic forms indicative of growth and development". On the river side is Leonard Shillam's aluminium sculpture approximately high. Entitled "Enlightenment", it depicts three figures reaching towards the sun, symbolising the dissemination of enlightenment to mankind. To the south the extension was designed as a series of concrete fin walls providing views of the river, private work areas and shade from the sun.

Heritage listing

Architectural plans of the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, 1888

The Old State Library Building 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. * The former State Library provides evidence of the importance of the Queensland Museum as an institution in late nineteenth century Brisbane scientific and cultural life. * The former State Library is significant for its historical association with the 1958–59 extension, the major centennial project by the Queensland Government and for its association with the State Library of Queensland since 1902. * The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. * The building is significant as an example of an 1870s public building in central Brisbane. * The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. * The building is an integral member of the most prominent, important and cohesive group of government buildings in Queensland. As a fine classical facade by

, the building is significant for its architectural quality.

References

Attribution

External links

{{commons category-inline, Old State Library of Queensland Building
State Library of Queensland (former) Discover Queensland Buildings website
Buildings and structures in Brisbane History of Brisbane Neoclassical architecture in Australia William Street, Brisbane Libraries in Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Former library buildings