Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Interwar 1919-1939
Style
Queenslander
Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Interwar 1919-1939
Style
Queenslander
This timber residence was constructed in 1935 for architect Robert Cummings who was also responsible for the design. Its architectural style represents a departure away from the more traditional, ornate timber and tin forms that dominated Brisbane housing styles in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries. Robert Cummings was a prominent and influential Brisbane architect from the interwar to the postwar periods and lectured at the University of Queensland for a number of years. His simple, underrated designs have arguably influenced generations of Queensland architects.
Lot plan
L2_RP20308; L1_RP20308
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Terracotta tile;Walls: Timber
People/associations
J.M. Finlayson (Builder);Robert Percy Cummings (Architect)
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L2_RP20308; L1_RP20308
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Terracotta tile;Walls: Timber
People/associations
J.M. Finlayson (Builder);Robert Percy Cummings (Architect)
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
After his marriage to Mavis Williams in 1933, architect Robert Cummings designed and had this two storeyed timber house built for himself and his family in 1935. The builder, J.M. Finlayson, later built a number of Cummings’ designs. This and other early works of Cummings, described as “free of ornament” and relying on structural form for expression, were fore-runner to and influenced the dominant post-war timber vernacular building style in Queensland.
Robert Percy Cummings trained at the Brisbane Central Technical College and later studied and worked abroad before his Queensland registration in 1931. Although practising at a time of stringent social and economic conditions Cummings made an outstanding contribution to both the profession and teaching of architecture from the 1930s until his retirement from these activities during the mid to late 1960s. He was Lecturer-in-Charge of Architecture and Building Construction at Qld University 1934-7 and Lecturer in Architecture from 1940. He was also a Councillor of the Qld Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects from 1934 and Federal Councillor of the RAIA and Trustee of the Qld Art Gallery from 1939. It could be argued that his preferred style of simple and undecorated forms eminently suited the post-war climate of austerity in building and materials, and that through his professional and educational involvements he had the opportunity to influence several generations of post-war architects.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
References
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Brisbane City Council Detail Plan no. 937, 1937
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Kennedy, Michael Owen. ‘Domestic Architecture in Queensland Between the Wars’, Master of the Built Environment (Building Conservation) thesis, University of New South Wales, 1989
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Lawrence-Drew, Margaret. Lucas and Cummings Architects. Unpub Thesis 1986. Bachelor of Architecture. University of Qld
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Queensland Post Office Directories
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)