Addresses
Type of place
Warehouse, Factory
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Free Style
This is an image of the local heritage place known as John Reid and Nephews Building facade
John Reid and Nephews Building facade
Addresses
Type of place
Warehouse, Factory
Period
Federation 1890-1914
Style
Free Style
This two-storey brick building was constructed circa 1911 for Ivor Eliot Peyton and used as a light engineering factory and warehouse by Brisbane company John Reid and Nephews from 1911 until 1969. The company specialised in wire, rope and hardware. In 1987 the building was purchased by The Australian Telecommunications Commission who demolished all but the facade in order to accommodate construction of the Telstra tower at the rear of the building.
Lot plan
L1_RP615; L2_RP615
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: Face brickCriterion for listing
(A) Historical; (E) AestheticInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L1_RP615; L2_RP615
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: Face brickCriterion for listing
(A) Historical; (E) AestheticInteractive mapping
History
Such construction in Charlotte Street reflects the predominant use of land in this area originally known as ‘Frogs Hollow’, which was roughly bounded by Alice, George, Elizabeth and Edward Streets. Until the late nineteenth century, the area was prone to flooding and possessed a dubious reputation due to the presence of brothels and opium dens. The area was also characterised by residences, boarding houses, hotels, the Chinese Quarter and light industry. From the 1880s onward, however, the area came to be increasingly dominated by warehouses and light industry. This was encouraged by the area’s proximity to the city’s busy wharves located on the Town Reach of the river. Thus, the construction of the building in Charlotte Street reflects this broader trend, which is an important aspect of the development of Brisbane’s Central Business District (CBD).
The building was leased to John Reid and Nephews from December 1911 for ten years and subsequently for another five years. In 1929 David Dickie Reid, a partner in John Reid and Nephews, purchased the building. The building remained in his possession until his death in 1951 and in the family’s until 1973 when his heirs sold the property to Access Pty Ltd. The wire, rope and hardware business was sold to Australian Wire Rope Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of BHP, in 1969. The building was purchased by the Australian Telecommunications Commission (late Telstra) in 1987 and all but the façade demolished to accommodate the Telstra tower behind.
Description
The façade of the former John Reid and Nephews’ building is brown facebrick. It is carefully composed with shallow brick arches forming window openings – a single arch to each bay on the first floor over double arches on the lower storey. The parapet rises in steps to a pair of peaks and has cement render copings and the company name in cement lettering in a decorative style above the first floor windows. The symmetry of the street front is broken only by the slope of the street to form a sub-basement and by the entrance at the southern end.
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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Allom Lovell and Associates, Charlotte Street Precinct – Redevelopment Proposals (Preliminary Report) for Department of Housing and Construction, 14 May 1987
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Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage, Australian Heritage Photographic Library website: www.deh.gov.au, Charlotte Street Group Photographs, Barcode: rt21908, rt21907. Accessed June 2006
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Australian Heritage Commission Register of the National Estate website: www.ahc.gov.au, Database Number 016427. Accessed May 2002
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Brisbane City Council, Properties on the Web, post-1946 building approval cards
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Brisbane City Council, 1946, 2001 & 2005 aerial photographs
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Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Map, 1913
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Brisbane City Council Building Register Aug 1909–Mar 1914
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Brisbane History Group, Walking Tours – Brisbane’s Commercial Heritage 1900-1940, Brisbane, Brisbane History Group, 2002
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Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificate of Titles
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G. Greenwood and J. Laverty. Brisbane 1859-1959: A History of Local Government. Brisbane: BCC, 1959.
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Lawson, Ronald Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society. St Lucia U of Q Press, 1973
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Mahlstedt & Son City of Brisbane Detail Fire Survey, Map No. 16, 1951
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National Trust File No: 614 and Citation
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Queensland Post Office Directories, 1876–1949
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Queensland Telephone Directories, 1949-77
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Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Qld), Buildings of Queensland, Brisbane, Jacaranda Press, 1959
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The Courier Mail, 1969
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Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994
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Watson, Donald & Judith McKay, A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940, UQ Library, 1984
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)