Queenslander (architecture)
The quintessential Queenslander is a single detached house made of timber with a corrugated iron roof located on a separate block of land.
[1] They are all high-set, single-storey dwellings with a characteristic veranda that extends around the house to varying extents but never entirely surrounds it.
At that time, there was also a belief that tropical diseases were caused by prolonged exposure to 'bad air' close to the ground (Miasma theory).
[4] The main living areas of the house, being raised from the terrain, are a series of rooms on a platform floor.
Traditionally, planning and fenestration encouraged cross-ventilation for passive cooling in a variety of innovative methods, including fanlights, ceiling roses, and alignment of doors and windows to allow uninterrupted air flow.
Brown and Broad began the “ready to erect” home building phase, with their products announced in 1915.
The motto of the company was “Houses built in half the time.” However, their catalogues also emphasized reliability and quality, and the fact that their tradesman were all expert in their own trade.
[8] These factors led to the adoption in Queensland, as elsewhere, of the ubiquitous "modern" American style, usually a single level and usually sold as a combined land and home package.
Ashgrovian is the term coined for a variation of the Queenslander built between the late 1920s and World War II in the suburb of Ashgrove in Brisbane.
The term Ashgrovian was coined from the prolific number of these dwellings constructed in the interwar period and was an adaptation of the Bungalow style which was popular in the early parts of the 20th century.
A staircase almost always dominated the front yard leading to the veranda, which in later years was commonly filled in to form extra rooms.
Other late additions included projecting bay or box-seat windows usually centrally located in the front of the house.
[10] However, community awareness of urban heritage has had local governments implement conservation measures to protect the unique 'tin and timber' character of neighbourhoods and towns dominated by Queenslander architecture.
Queensland's highrise buildings are finding new ways to hover above the landscape creating lush shaded undercrofts that extend public amenity, mature planting, habitat and flowpaths, shade, pools, gardens, decks, boardwalks and amenity connecting streets to waterfront through and under the highrise.
Queenslander highrise practice gives architects ways to blend and celebrate undercrofts with lace and balustrade detailing.
These are metal plates placed on top of each stump shaped to make it difficult for white ants to reach the main part of the building.
