Rothwells Building is a heritage-listed commercial building at 237 Edward 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 built from 1885 to 1909 by W Macfarlane. 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 21 October 1992.

History

Rothwells Building was erected in 1885 along with the adjacent Rowes Building. These buildings were erected together for their respective owners, John Forsyth and

Thomas MacDonald-Paterson Thomas Macdonald-Paterson (9 May 1844 – 21 March 1906) was an Australian politician, a member of the Parliament of Queensland, and later, the Parliament of Australia. Early life Macdonald-Paterson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, he was educate ...

. Forsyth was a local merchant while MacDonald-Paterson was a solicitor and who also served as a Member of Parliament. The buildings cost £13,000 to erect and the contractor for the project was W Macfarlane. The ground floor was designed to be used as offices while the other floors were intended for either offices or warehousing. Forsyth leased his half of the building to Carew, Gardner and Billington Limited in January 1887. This family drapery and importing company later purchased the building in 1896, and in turn leased the building to Rothwells Ltd from December 1904. This firm of drapers and tailors was established in 1897 and in 1909 purchased the building for £9,000. In January 1909 a fire burned out four floors of Rothwells Chambers, as it was then known, and the damaged portions of the building were rebuilt. During 1957 and 1958 interior renovations were undertaken. Considerable alterations occurred in the early 1980s as part of the redevelopment of this site and the adjacent Rowes Building. The building currently contains a tavern, an arcade of shops and office accommodation.

Description

Rothwells building is a five storeyed masonry building with a basement. The street facade contains individual classical variants common in late Victorian buildings. The lower floors have wide arched openings with flanking

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 member ...

topped by decorative capitals, while the windows have arched

architraves In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, of ...

with

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 ...

. At the parapet level there is a

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 ...

supported by bracketing, and above this is an ornate triangular

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 ...

spanning the width of the building bearing the words ''ROTHWELL'S - ESTABLISHED 1897''. Internally the building is connected with its neighbour Rowes and contains the servicing for both buildings. Suspended ceilings and modern office partitioning predominate. The building is similar in design to the adjacent Rowes Building.

Heritage listing

Rothwells 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 Rothwells Building is significant as it demonstrates the principal characteristics of an 1880s commercial building with an elaborate facade. The Rothwells Building is significant as it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular its fine, classically detailed facade, and its form, materials and scale, which make a strong contribution to the Edward Street streetscape. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The Rothwells Building is significant as it demonstrates the principal characteristics of an 1880s commercial building with an elaborate facade. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The Rothwells Building is significant as it exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular its fine, classically detailed facade, and its form, materials and scale, which make a strong contribution to the Edward Street streetscape.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Rothwells Building Queensland Heritage Register Brisbane central business district Commercial buildings in Queensland Victorian architecture in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register