Addresses
Type of place
Factory
Period
Interwar 1919-1939
Style
Queenslander
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Peters Factory
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Peters Factory 1946
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Peters Factory 2009
Peters Factory
Addresses
Type of place
Factory
Period
Interwar 1919-1939
Style
Queenslander
The original Peters Factory was constructed in 1928 at a cost of £100,000. A second building was added in the mid 1930s. The buildings are illustrative of the development of industry in West End in the early twentieth century.
Also known as
Peters - Arctic Delicacy Co. Ltd. factory
Lot plan
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Masonry
People/associations
Peters Ice Cream (Association)Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Also known as
Peters - Arctic Delicacy Co. Ltd. factory
Lot plan
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Roof: Corrugated iron;Walls: Masonry
People/associations
Peters Ice Cream (Association)Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
Peters American Delicacy Company was established in Sydney in 1907 when F. A. B. Peters first began making and delivering ice cream daily. Peters’ business grew and in 1912 he expanded his company to Queensland and Western Australia. In Brisbane around 1923 a company named Arctic Ice Creams Ltd. began making Eskimo Pies. In 1927 this company merged with Peters to form Peters-Arctic Delicacy Co. Ltd, operating throughout Queensland.
In December 1928 this reinforced concrete and brick ice cream factory was opened for operation. It cost £100,000 and provided work for hundreds of people. At the time of its opening the new factory was described as "…one of the most efficient ice cream factories in Australia." The company prided itself on the fact that from the time the milk and cream were received into the factory until they reached the consumer, they were not touched by human hands, the whole of the various processes being by means of modern machinery. To cope with the manufacturing of sufficient ice, huge ice tanks were built on the roof.
When the factory was completed, it was fronted by a forecourt reserve and driveway which was later laid out in a formal, award-winning garden. This garden earned Peters the nickname the "garden factory".
Sometime during the 1930s a second factory building was constructed facing Wilson Street. This is an indication of Peters’ growth in the middle decades of the 1900s century. The Peters business continued to expand, offering new services to localities throughout Queensland until, in 1960, it and Pauls Ice Cream and Milk Ltd were merged into Queensland United Foods Industries Ltd.
Description
The original factory of the late twenties is now greatly hidden by later additions. The roofscape of this building has also changed dramatically since its inception presumably due to the changes in technology requiring the removal of the original ice tanks. The building has a reinforced concrete frame with brick infill panels, but this is now less obvious due to the building being painted. The building has truncated corner bays at each end facing Mollison Street. The original parapet has been covered by a taller one consisting of galvanised iron roof sheeting. Two structural bays remain visible in front of a more recent brick tower from the Mollison Street entry. At the utilitarian rear of the factory more of the extent of the original factory can be determined.
At the rear of this building the more recent section of the factory is less altered. It is a large brick rectangular structure with a gabled clerestory roof. Its symmetrically arranged ends have six brick pilasters rising to parapet level and central doorways. The fenestration consists of predominantly horizontal openings occurring on three levels with painted concrete lintels. The parapet follows the line of the roofs except at their edges where it becomes horizontal. Cast iron rainwater heads decorated with a diamond motif and downpipes occur at each edge of the end facades.
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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Quick Licks, (Peters), Vol. 29 (April 1989)
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Brisbane Courier
-
Queensland Manufacturers Year Book, 1962, p. 41
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)