Old State Library Building, Brisbane

The Old State Library Building is the former home of the State Library of Queensland. It is located immediately opposite Queens Gardens on William Street in Brisbane, Australia. Originally constructed for the Queensland Museum, the building contained a library from 1902 to 1988, when the State Library was relocated to the Queensland Cultural Centre in South Bank.^[2]

History

Reading room in 1902

The building was constructed in two stages; the original neoclassical building between 1876 and 1879 and the modern extension between 1958 and 1959.^[1]

The original section was the first purpose-built venue for the Queensland Museum, with the design completed in 1876 under the supervision of Queensland Colonial Architect FDG Stanley. A construction contract for £10,701 was let to W Macfarlane in 1877.^[1][3][4]

The building was completed and occupied early in 1879, but proved inadequate for museum purposes. In 1881 the area below was levelled and the basement was extended. By 1884 the government was setting aside funds for a new museum building, but economic depression necessitated the museum remaining in the cramped William Street premises until removed to the former Exhibition Building on Gregory Terrace in 1899.^[1]

A £1,900 contract was let in September 1900 for conversion of the former museum building into premises for the Public Library of Queensland (later the State Library of Queensland). The library opened in the refurbished building on 29 April 1902.^[2] The John Oxley Library, established in 1926 as the principal centre for research material on Queensland history, was housed in the building from 1931.^[1]

An extension for the building was commissioned to mark Queensland's centenary. The design by government architects WG Thain, P Prystupa, U Stukoff, AJ Wheeler, D Davies and H de Jong included reading rooms and an exhibition hall. In 1958 national competitions were held for designs for a wall mural and sculpture for the exterior of the new hall. These were won by Victorian artist Lindsay Edward and Brisbane sculptor Leonard G Shillam. Shillam's aluminium sculpture was cast by the Non-Ferrous Foundry of Brisbane. Construction of the extension was completed in 1959 at a cost of over £265,000, and opened by Princess Alexandra on 21 August of that year.^[5]

From 1964 to 1965 the original building underwent a major renovation, including the addition of a concrete frame structure, new floors, a mezzanine and air conditioning and the removal of the skylight, at a cost of over £227,000. The exterior brickwork may also have been rendered at this time.^[1]

The State Library moved to new premises in the Queensland Cultural Centre in 1988,^[2] and the building has since been used as library storage.^[1]

Design

Original neoclassical structure

The Old State Library Building consists of two main parts; the original 1879 neoclassical structure and the 1959 modern extension.^[1]

The original building is a three-storey masonry structure with a sandstone facade, designed using classical elements. The facade features a rusticated base, arched windows and an aedicular door at ground level (the original entrance, now blocked in). Unfluted, double-height columns with lotus leaf capitals form a colonnade in front of the second and third storeys. The colonnade supports an entablature with consoles above each column. A small pediment with stretches of balustrade on either side sits above the entablature.^[1]

The 1959 extension has four storeys, only one of which appears above William Street. The western wall features a 20.7 metre × 4.4 metre glass mosaic mural by Lindsay Edward. On the river side is a 6 metre high aluminium sculpture by Leonard G Shillam entitled Enlightenment, which depicts three figures reaching towards the sun, symbolising the dissemination of enlightenment. To the south the extension was designed as a series of concrete fin walls providing views of the river, private work areas and shade from the sun.^[1]

References

External links

Coordinates: 27°28′22″S 153°01′25″E / 27.47272068°S 153.02373837°E / -27.47272068; 153.02373837 Media related to Old State Library of Queensland Building at Wikimedia Commons