Barnes and Co. Trading Place is a heritage-listed former department store at 118 Palmerin Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia.

The new stores were large scale buildings, usually multi-levelled, with impressive architectural edifices raising them to the standards of public monuments.

By the First World War the department store flourished as a middle class institution where shoppers were less intimidated and offered a wider variety of goods than were available in traditional exclusive shops.

The company which was known under various names had been merchants in Warwick since 1874 and, in the tradition of many other large stores, considerable expansion and rebuilding occurred resulting in the 1911 building extant today.

The land on which the building stands was acquired by Deed of Grant by William Brown on 23 November 1860 and had many owners until 23 March 1907 when George Powell Barnes bought the site for his new trade palace.

Externally, well composed facades of tuck pointed brickwork and plaster pilasters and cornices contribute to the quality of the design of the building and this is re-inforced by the internal finishes and detailing including the Wunderlich ceiling, timber joinery and plate glass.

[1] The interior of the former Barnes & Co store seems to have been divided into several smaller departments and a small note in the opening description describes wooden partitions as painted.

The building is generally of brick, with rendered ornamentation to the street facades, a plate glass shopfront at ground level, a cantilevered awning over and a corrugated iron roof with rooflights.

[1] The shopfront has large panes of plate glass divided by cast iron column mullions with simple moulded bases and capitals.

[1] Internally, the ground floor of the central area is a large open space interspersed with columns, apart from a later partitioned office to the south side.

It features a high ceiling lined with ornate pressed metal including borders, cornices, roses and beam surrounds, but the volume of the space has been interrupted by the addition of a timber mezzanine level and a steel stair.

[1] The single-storey south wing has been divided by a timber tongue and groove partition wall, separating a retail tenancy.

Vertical sliding sash windows continue on those sides not fronting the streets but with less frequency, and from here can be seen the corrugated iron roofs of the single-storey wings.

These rooflights are small rectangular pavilions with windows on all four sides, and hipped roofs featuring acroteria to the gutter corners.

[1] The rear of the building, fronting the corner of the laneway, has timber, brick and some stone walls, and a series of lean-to roofs creating some loading areas.

From here a timber ramp runs back into the building, past the later partitions of staff toilets and store rooms.