Wickham Terrace Car Park
| Wickham Terrace Car Park | |
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Wickham Terrace Car Park (as seen from intersection of Wickham Terrace and Creek Street), 2015
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| Location | 136 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°27′54″S 153°01′33″E / 27.465°S 153.0257°ECoordinates: 27°27′54″S 153°01′33″E / 27.465°S 153.0257°E |
| Design period | 1940s - 1960s (post-World War II) |
| Built | 1959 - 1960 |
| Architect | James Birrell |
| Architectural style(s) | Functionalism |
| Official name: Brisbane City Council Carpark, Wickham Terrace Carpark | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 13 January 1995 |
| Reference no. | 601511 |
| Significant period | 1950s-1960s (historical) 1959-1960 (fabric) |
| Significant components | steps/stairway, mural / fresco, ramp, views to, car park |
 Location of Wickham Terrace Car Park in Queensland
Location of Wickham Terrace Car Park in Queensland
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Wickham Terrace Car Park is a heritage-listed multi-storey car park at 136 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by James Birrell and built from 1959 to 1960. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register as Brisbane City Council Carpark on 13 January 1995.
A multi-storeyed concrete structure, the Wickham Terrace Car Park was designed by James Birrell, the City Architect for the Brisbane City Council, and constructed during 1959 and 1960 by Thiess Brothers. The erection time for the complex was 14 months, at a cost of £535,000. It was the first parking station to be constructed by the Brisbane City Council and one of the first within the city area. The car park was built on a site which formerly housed a Red Cross workshop and garages.
Car ownership in Australia increased dramatically in the 1950s. In the ten years to 1962, statistics show an increase of from one car per nine people to one car per three and a half, or per family. Prior to 1960, car parking requirements had mostly been met by metered parking in the streets. Funds from parking meters were directed towards the construction costs of the new car park.
James Birrell was appointed Architect in charge of the Brisbane City Council Architectural Department at the age of 27 years and in this capacity oversaw more than 150 projects between 1955 and 1961. Preliminary sketches of the car park project were published in the journal Architecture and Arts in January 1958 and revised versions of the design subsequently appeared in other architectural journals. The car park was Birrell's largest, and one of his last, projects for the Brisbane City Council. It was one of the first major off-form concrete structures in Brisbane. Other buildings designed by Birrell for the Brisbane City Council included libraries at Annerley (1956–57), Chermside (1957-58) and Toowong (1959–60), and swimming pools including Toowong Swimming Pool (1957–59) and the Centenary Pool Complex (1959) in Spring Hill. Birrell was appointed Architect to the University of Queensland from 1961–66, overseeing the university's second major phase of construction development. His most notable buildings from this period include Union College, the JD Story Administration Building, Staff House and the Agriculture and Entomology Building. In 1966 he entered private practice.
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