Addresses

At 995 Brunswick Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Flat building

Period

Interwar 1919-1939

Style

Art Deco

Coronet Flats

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as 'Coronet Flats'

Coronet Flats

Coronet Flats Download Citation (pdf, 261.07 KB)

Addresses

At 995 Brunswick Street, New farm, Queensland 4005

Type of place

Flat building

Period

Interwar 1919-1939

Style

Art Deco

‘Coronet Flats’ was designed by the owner, Max Strickland, a Melbourne businessman, proprietor of the Stucoid Modelling Company. The flats were built on the site of Richard Gailey Junior’s home ‘Burnage’, burnt down in January 1932. The three-storey brick building of nine flats was designed to meet the demand by the growing middle-class rental market for ‘up-to-date, well-serviced flats’ similar to those in the southern cities. ‘Coronet Flats’ was promoted in the newspapers of the day for its private entrances, garages, and labour-saving facilities and conveniences. Features of the building were designed to maximise its corner site with angled bays on either side of the central pergola entrance for ventilation and views of New Farm Park. Distinctive features include the accordian pattern at parapet level, faceted facade to maximise breezes and views of the park from each flat, the central pergola entry with leadlight feature windows and decorative masonry panels below the windows.

Also known as

Coronet Court

Lot plan

  • L1_SP237377;
  • L2_SP237377;
  • L3_SP237377;
  • L4_SP237377;
  • L5_SP237377;
  • L6_SP237377;
  • L7_SP237377;
  • L8_SP237377;
  • L9_SP237377

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Walls: Face brick

People/associations

Max Stricland (Architect);
 T. Larking (Builder)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Also known as

Coronet Court

Lot plan

  • L1_SP237377;
  • L2_SP237377;
  • L3_SP237377;
  • L4_SP237377;
  • L5_SP237377;
  • L6_SP237377;
  • L7_SP237377;
  • L8_SP237377;
  • L9_SP237377

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Walls: Face brick

People/associations

Max Stricland (Architect);
 T. Larking (Builder)

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (E) Aesthetic

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

History

Family history records that “the decorative stained glass windows” were “designed by Strickland in conjunction the artist Charles Lancaster”.

In 1939 the property was purchased by Thomas Maloney, who bought the property for his daughter Eileen O’Connor. Both names appear on the title which records Thomas Maloney’s death in 1948.  According to family history, in the late 1950s and early 1960s Eileen O’Connor and her daughter were “struggling to maintain the building after a long period of rent control”. In contrast to the new suburbs with new stand- alone houses, flats became increasingly associated with “poor quality budget accommodation” and “shabbiness”. The O’Connor women “knew that this did not reflect the slightly worn grandeur of their beloved Coronet” and they adopted the more regal nomenclature of nearby apartment buildings, Coronet Court. This name, reflecting wider social and economic historical trends, has been retained on the restored pergola and the entrance.1

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:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as New Farm underwent a dramatic transformation in the interwar period, which saw a large number of flats being constructed on subdivided residential estates.

Rarity

Criterion B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage

as one of a surviving number of interwar flats that make a valuable contribution to New Farm's built character, which is undergoing rapid change with increasing high-density development.

Representative

Criterion D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places

as an outstanding example of an Art Deco block of flats.

Aesthetic

Criterion E

The place is important because of its aesthetic significance

as a block of flats with a flowing geometric form, use of different materials and decorative detailing in a landmark corner location overlooking New Farm Park.

Supporting images

This is an image of ‘Coronet Flats in New Farm, Brisbane, 1933’, viewed from the corner of Brunswick Street and Elystan Road, New Farm, looking south-east.

Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd,
‘Coronet Flats in New Farm, Brisbane, 1933',
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

References

  1. O’Connor, Tamsin “Submission regarding Amendments to the Brisbane City Plan with particular reference to the Heritage Register Scheme Policy”. Received 20 Feb 2012

  2. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

  3. Brisbane City Council 1938 and 1946 aerial photographs

  4. Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Maps, Detail Plan No 169, 18 June 1925

  5. Brisbane City Council, Surveyor’s Notebook, 30 April 1925

  6. Brisbane City Council, New Farm and Teneriffe Hill Heritage and Character Study, Oct 1995, pg 74

  7. Certificates of Title, Department of Environment and Resource Management

  8. Dept of Environment and Resource Management, ‘Julius Street Flats’, Queensland Heritage Register entry

  9. Bennett, H, ‘New Farm from quality street to mixed assortment’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010 pg 144-145

  10. Bennett, H. and J. Schiavo, ‘New Farm Timeline’, Brisbane History Group, 1999

  11. Bennett, H, ‘New Farm from quality street to mixed assortment’, Brisbane Houses, Gardens, Suburbs and Congregations, Papers No 22 Brisbane History Group, 2010 pg 144-145

  12. Richards, S., Coronet Court, National Trust of Queensland citation, 1997

  13. Brisbane Courier, 19 Jan 1932, pg 16

  14. Brisbane Courier, 22 Feb 1932, pg 9

  15. Brisbane Courier, 21 April 1933, pg 5

  16. Courier Mail, 17 Nov 1933, pg 5

  17. Courier Mail, 20 Jan, 1934, pg 5

  18. Brisbane News, 29 November-5 December 1995, pg 4

  19. Apperly, Richard, Robert Irving and Peter Reynolds. A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present. North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1989

  20. Kennedy, Michael Owen. Domestic Architecture in Queensland Between the Wars. Unpub Thesis. Master of Built Environment. 1989

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)

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Interwar 1919-1939
Art Deco
Flat building
At 995 Brunswick Street, New farm, Queensland 4005
At 995 Brunswick Street, New farm, Queensland 4005
  • L1_SP237377;
  • L2_SP237377;
  • L3_SP237377;
  • L4_SP237377;
  • L5_SP237377;
  • L6_SP237377;
  • L7_SP237377;
  • L8_SP237377;
  • L9_SP237377
Historical, Rarity, Representative, Aesthetic