RS Exton And Co Building
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RS Exton and Co Building 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 rural–urban fringe, out ...
facade at 333 Ann Street, Brisbane City,
City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. It was designed by Claude William Chambers and built in 1907. It is also known as Ace House. 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 ...
on 17 December 1999.


History

The former RS Exton and Co Building was constructed in 1907 as the premises of the renowned painters and decorators, RS Exton and Co. The warehouse was designed by
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
architect, Claude W Chambers. Recently, the building was partially demolished and the facade only survives. Robert Skerrett Exton was a prolific painter, decorator and glazier who practiced in Brisbane from 1882 until 1921. In 1882 Robert Skerrit Exton established a painting and decorating partnership with George Gough. Both men were from
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, England. Exton arrived in Brisbane and in the 1870s established himself as a glazier in Harcourt Street,
Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
. By 1880 Exton had moved to premises at 337–9
Queen Street, Brisbane Queen Street is the main street of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. It is named after Queen Victoria. The western part of the street is covered by a new plaza at the base of Brisbane Square and underneath part of the western hal ...
. In 1882 the partnership of Exton and Gough allowed an expansion of Exton's solo concern. George Gough was a painter and decorator of many years experience. In 1883 the partnership moved from Exton's earlier premises to 526 Queen Street, opposite
Petrie Bight Petrie Bight is a reach (geography), reach of the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The land to the north of the bight, centred on the area under the Story Bridge's northern point and around the Brisbane River to Customs House, B ...
. The partnership continued here and with branches in
Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
and
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
until 1907 when it dissolved. Typical of most painters and decorators of the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries, Exton and Gough and their employees provided a wide range of services for the householder or business person building or improving their premises. Services included painting and decorating, and signwriting. Exton and Gough also provided paint supplies for tradesmen and were agents for embossed metal ceilings and importers of art glass and wallpapers of the latest European design. During the 1880s Exton and Gough expanded their business to incorporate a department for the manufacture of
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
, the only of its kind in Queensland. Exton and Gough quickly assumed a reputation for high quality work and were commissioned for prestigious projects including
Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...
( George Street), the Treasury Building,
Customs House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
, the Smellie and Co Warehouse, the Wesleyan Methodist Churches in Brisbane and
Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
. Exton and Gough provided stained glass windows for St Stephen's Cathedral and St Patrick's Church in Fortitude Valley. During the 20th century, Exton worked on the
Brisbane City Hall Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entran ...
and the Regent Theatre. Following the dissolution of the Exton and Gough partnership, RS Exton and Co was formed and George Gough established a separate painting and decorating business in Albert Street. RS Exton constructed a building at 333 Ann Street to continue business. Robert Skerrett Exton acquired the title for the land on 17 April 1907. Exton and Arthur Hatton, an associate, obtained a mortgage on the property in December 1907 for $1000 with a time frame of just over 2 years to repay the loan. The Ann Street property was transferred to RS Exton and Co on 5 December 1910 when RS Exton and Co became a limited company and Robert Skerrett Exton, Arthur Joseph Hatton, William Exton and Robert Harold Exton were appointed as the directors. The warehouse is thought to be designed by Brisbane architect Claude W Chambers, as the RS Exton and Co Warehouse appears in the list of completed buildings in an advertisement for Chambers in ''Queenslanders As We See 'Em'' of 1915. When constructed the building's face brick facade was symmetrically arranged around a central round arched full length recess flanked by narrower double arched recesses. Greek key relief moulding on cement panels, signage and other classical motifs decorated the facade. The choice of Ann Street, as the site of the RS Exton and Co Warehouse was in accord with other early twentieth-century business who maintained businesses in the Street. At the time RS Exton and Co constructed its warehouse, this area of Ann Street had been transformed with the construction of the Central railway station in the late 1880s; a number of hotels including the Canberra Hotel and the Oxford Hotel were established nearby along with a number of businesses and churches. Immediately adjacent to the RS Exton and Co Warehouse was J Simmonds Monumental Works, located adjacent to St Andrews Presbyterian Church on the corner of
Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...
and Ann Streets. Subsequent to the construction of the RS Exton and Co Warehouse, the
Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...
, Shell House, the Government ANZAC Square Offices, the People's Palace, the
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
and other hotels and businesses were constructed in Ann Street. Ann Street, a series of two to four storeyed buildings built to the footpath and punctuated occasionally with towers became a significant promenade through Brisbane. Since the 1960s, many of these earlier buildings have been demolished and replaced with multi storeyed office buildings. RS Exton and Co continued to offer painting and decorating services and expanded the stained and leaded glass aspect of the business. In 1913, The Salon reported that the
leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could b ...
department of RS Exton and Co was under the management of Herbert M. Smyrk who for many years was one of the principal artists in the studio of Messrs William Morris and Co, Ruskin House, London. He had previously produced much fine work in the studio of E. F. Troy in
Gawler, South Australia Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of South Australia, Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. ...
. The windows produced by the RS Exton and Co are of very quality and are clearly influenced by the work of the English
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
, particularly the stained glass work of
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...
. RS Exton and Co began to concentrate more fully on the design and manufacture of ecclesiastical and domestic glass. To this end, RS Exton and Co employed several young artists to design the stained glass work. The most prolific and renowned of these designers was
William Bustard William Bustard (18 April 1894 – 24 August 1973) was an artist in Queensland, Australia. His stained glass work features in many heritage-listed buildings. Early life William Bustard was born in 1894 in Terrington, Malton, North Yorkshire, Ma ...
who was employed in 1921 on commission as a stained glass designer. Bustard remained an employee on this basis with RS Exton and Co until the closure of the glass studio in 1958 with the demise of interest in decorative glass. Bustard was a prolific producer of fine stained glass which was used throughout Queensland, fine examples being in St Mark's Anglican Church,
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
; St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Spring Hill; St Thomas' Anglican Church,
Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...
; and St Paul's Anglican Cathedral,
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
. Other significant designers included Charles Lancaster, whose work survives at Hampton Court, Bowen Terrace,
New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,197 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...
and George Oxlade who later formed his own painting and decorating business, Oxlade Brothers, who are operating to this day at art suppliers. The company expanded in the 1910s or 1920s and another building was constructed adjacent to the western side of the 1907–1908 warehouse. This building has since been demolished. RS Exton died in 1921 and the company was compromised by the effects of the early 1930s Depression and by
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The business contracted through the 1940s and the glass department closed in 1958. In the early 1940s the Ann Street Warehouse of RS Exton and Co, was used by EJ Lynch Motor Body Repairs Hoods and
Upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...
. The remainder of the building apart from the facade was demolished in the late 1980s or early 1990s, prior to the heritage listing. The development that was to replace it was abandoned in 1990, and the site sat vacant until the mid-2000s, when the "333 Ann St" office tower was built in its place.


Description

The former RS Exton and Co Building is situated on the south eastern side of Ann Street within a precinct of early low scale buildings, including the Masonic Hall, CPS House and St Andrew's Uniting Church. The facade continues the scale of these buildings. The remnants of the building include the north western facade addressing Ann Street and remnant walls returning from this. The facade is a symmetrical composition of face brick construction laid in English bond with rendered detailing. The facade is surmounted by a parapet with a projecting stepped up central bay housing a
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
. A rendered
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
runs the length of the parapet and stepped section. The pediment detail is embellished with dentilling and with the date ''"A. 1907. D"'' in relief lettering. Flanking the pediment is lettering repeated on each side, ''"RS Exton and Co"''. The facade comprises a central round arched recess extending from ground floor level to just below the parapet. This central recess is flanked by narrower paired round arched recesses. The arched recesses of the facade are ornamented with rendered keystone and string courses.


Heritage listing

The former RS Exton and Co Building was listed on 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 ...
on 17 December 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. As the only known premises of the RS Exton and Co business, or its predecessors, to survive, the building facade at 333 Ann Street has important and rare associations with a prolific and well known painting, decorating and stained glass business who were responsible for work to many of Queensland's outstanding nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The RS Exton and Co Building comprises a well designed warehouse facade of aesthetic and architectural value which contributes to the scale and architectural quality of this area of Ann Street. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. Through its position on Ann Street and the quality of the external detailing, the remnant building demonstrates the ethos and significance of the RS Exton and Co firm.


References


Attribution


External links

{{Commons category-inline, RS Exton and Co Building Queensland Heritage Register Heritage of Brisbane Ann Street, Brisbane Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Warehouses in Queensland