K2 building

The 1920s was a decade of economic growth throughout Brisbane. The Valley, in particular, with its success as a commercial and industrial hub, expanded even further. Electric trams, which passed the busy corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets, brought thousands of shoppers to the Valley. The first stage of the McWhirters building that had been completed in 1912 was extended in 1923. 

Although 140 Wickham Street was situated away from the main retail hub centred on Brunswick Street, Rhoades and Co furniture warehouse, sited on the southern end of this block of shops, drew customers to this end of the Valley from the turn of the century. 

Wickham Street was affected by road widening and remodelling at the junction of Ann, Queen and Wickham Streets that occurred during the 1920s. In 1923 the Brisbane Municipal Council resumed properties in Wickham Street where it met Ann and Queen Streets for this purpose. In this decade the cutting on Duncan’s Hill for Ann Street was widened opening the Valley even more to the rest of Brisbane. In 1927, Barry Parade was constructed to link up with St Paul’s Terrace on which the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration had recently erected their new convent. 

The undertaking of road widening in the CBD to improve traffic flow, and park creation was part of a broader international town planning movement that was prominent between 1912 and 1920.1 This movement had a significant impact on the Brisbane Municipal Council, leading to the implementation of The City of Brisbane Improvement Act of 1916. Extensive plans were then detailed for the widening of the CBD’s “principal streets, the resumption of extensive areas of land, and the extension of the city’s parks and recreational facilities”.1 The Municipal Council borrowed £1,000,000 and work on the scheme began in 1923. The junction of Ann, Queen and Wickham Streets was completely remodelled in the next few years, creating Centenary Park.

Leong and Sons purchased lot 2 (140 Wickham Street) and in December 1921 Chambers and Ford were commissioned to design a building for the 9 35/100 perch site. This development received building approval from the Brisbane Municipal Council in 1924. The builder was J. D. McDonald of Kelvin Grove.

The noted architectural firm, Chambers and Ford, was the partnership of Claude William Chambers (1861-1947) with E. M. Ford between 1920 and 1935. This was formed after Chambers’ move to Sydney in 1915.  Chambers’ architectural work in Brisbane dates from 1887.  It includes the residences Ross Roy now St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly (1896-97) and Wybenia, Mark Street, New Farm (1898), and additions to the Municipal Markets, Roma and Turbot Streets, Brisbane (1900). Chambers and Ford were responsible for Holy Trinity Church (1930) and a number of elite houses in Hamilton and Clayfield during the inter-war period, including Gainsborough in Crescent Road, Hamilton (1938).  

From the mid-1920s until at least 1949 140 Wickham Street was occupied by a furniture dealer. This usage mirrored that of other premises in this part of Wickham Street. 

Fortitude Valley remained a major retail centre until the 1960s when population and businesses declined. A resurgence of inner-city living during the 1990s reversed this trend. Currently the K2 building is a retail outlet for adventure travel goods, as are many of the adjacent buildings in this section of Wickham Street.

1. Gordon Greenwood and John Laverty, Brisbane 1859-1959: A History of Local Government, Brisbane, 1959, p. 410

2. Ibid

3. 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

4. Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, 1922

5. Brisbane City Council Building Registers, 1920s

6. Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, Fortitude Valley Character and Heritage Study, Volume 2, Brisbane, 1995

7. Brisbane City Council Minutes, 1923

8. Brisbane City Council Property Details, BIDS, Building Cards

9. Brisbane City Council WebBASX maps – cadastre, 1946 aerial, 2001 aerial, 2005 aerial

10. Brisbites Suburban Sites, Fortitude Valley @ www.brisbites.com/suburbview.asp accessed 7 Sep 2006

11. Department of Mines and Natural Resources, Certificates of Title

12. Greenwood, Gordon and John Laverty, Brisbane 1859-1959: A History of Local Government, The Council of the City of Brisbane, Brisbane, 1959

13. John Oxley Library Photograph Collection

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

15. Mahlstedt & Son, City of Brisbane Detail Fire Survey, Map No. 30, 1951

16. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board Survey Maps, Detail Plan No. 151, 1914

17. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1894-1949

18. State Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Buildings of Queensland, Jacaranda, Brisbane, 1959

19. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940. (St. Lucia: U of Q Press, 1984)

20. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century: A Biographical Dictionary, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, 1994