Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Postwar 1945-1960
Style
Brisbane Regional
Addresses
Type of place
House
Period
Postwar 1945-1960
Style
Brisbane Regional
7 Herbert Street, Toowong is a brick house constructed in 1957 and is an excellent example of an innovative house of the 1950s. Designed by significant and influential Brisbane architect Vitaly Gzell, it represents a radical departure from traditional Queensland housing styles and materials using simple stylistic elements and new ‘modern’ materials while responding to the dictates of climate and site.
Lot plan
L2_RP92706
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: MasonryPeople/associations
Vitaly A. Gzell (Architect)Criterion for listing
(B) Rarity; (F) Technical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L2_RP92706
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Construction
Walls: MasonryPeople/associations
Vitaly A. Gzell (Architect)Criterion for listing
(B) Rarity; (F) Technical; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
In Queensland in the 1950s and 1960s, the restrictions and shortages of wartime austerity slowly gave way to affluence and a sense of optimism. Architects, influenced by modern international styles, benefited from the rapidly developing urban sprawl during the postwar period as immigration and a baby boom contributed to increased demand for housing. Much of the new development consisted of ‘fibro’ and timber bungalows as the traditional verandahed Queenslander fell victim to shortages of building materials and a perception of being ‘old fashioned’. Architects, adopting international and interstate trends, developed a new awareness of the importance of taking account of climate and landscape in the design of new buildings. Queensland architects, like Hayes and Scott, were searching for “an architecture with an identifiable Queensland flavour” and incorporated “traditional devices, such as roof ventilation, screening and verandahs … but did not … imitate the forms of the traditional house.”1
7 Herbert St was built following an application by the owner, James Archibald Tait in February 1958. It is a fine example of the new Modern International /Regional Style of architecture that embraced “the more advanced way of building and the cleaner details” developed in the ‘forties to develop a “new, free creative approach to the problems of design.”1 The one central concern for Brisbane architects, such as Heathwood, Dalton, (Hayes and Scott,) training during the ‘fifties and ‘sixties, was “designing for the Queensland climate”.1 Architects of this era wanted to produce “architecture with a distinctly Queensland flavour” and “adapted elements [of the traditional Queensland house] to temper the Queensland climate and used them in a non-derivative way, incorporating them into the prevailing international language of the time.”1
In the post-war period Vitaly Gzell was attributed to designing some of Brisbane’s most fashionable homes. Gzell had been a successful architect with his partnership in the firm Blackburne and Gzell, recognized for designing some of Brisbane’s finest interwar houses. In the post-war era Gzell established his own firm. Once again, Gzell designed architecturally innovative homes in Queensland by adopting modernist design. 7 Herbert St is a representation, not only of Gzell’s innovative architecture, but also of the post-war fashion to build architect designed homes that were a shift from the traditional Queensland housing stock.
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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Avery, P., Dennis P., Whitman P., eds. Cool: The 60s Brisbane House, QUT Brisbane, 2004, p41
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Robin Boyd in Dennis p.19
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P. Dennis “Innovative Architecture for Living: Brisbane architect-designed houses of the 1960s” B.Arch thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1999, p.33
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P. Dennis “Innovative Architecture for Living: Brisbane architect-designed houses of the 1960s” B.Arch thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1999, pp.59-60
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Dennis, Peta, Innovative Architecture for Living: Brisbane architect-designed houses of the 1960s, Queensland University of Technology, Thesis, 1999
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F. Gardiner “Significant Twentieth Century Architecture of Queensland” B.Arch thesis, University of Queensland, 1988
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Avery, P., Dennis P., Whitman P., eds. Cool: The 60s Brisbane House, QUT Brisbane, 2004
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Historic Titles, Department of Environment and Resource Management
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Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Survey Maps
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Richard Apperly (et al), A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian architecture Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1989
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)