McWhirters

McWhirters

Wickham Street entrance
Location Fortitude Valley, Brisbane Australia
Opening date 1898
No. of floors 3 - 5
Advertisement for women's fashion at McWhirters, 1941

McWhirters is a shopping centre and apartment building in Fortitude Valley an inner city suburb of Brisbane, Australia. The buildings occupy over an acre of land bound by Brunswick, Wickham, and Warner Streets. It is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[1]

Design

At the corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets is the most iconic building of the McWhirters complex. Built 1930-31 it is Art Deco in style features a commanding facade that was designed by the Brisbane architectural firm of T.R. Hall and L.B. Phillips, who also designed the Brisbane City Hall, Shell House, and the Tattersalls Club Members Dining Room.[2][3] The Art Deco façade features polychrome terracotta decorative panels in rich bold colours of varying glazes, and the monogram 'McW' encircled by fronds of the Lily of the Valley flower.[3]

History

In 1898, Scotsman James McWhirter started a business called McWhirter and Son, Drapers that soon expanded into a sophisticated department store.[2] At the time a total of 30 staff were employed in the store.[4] By 1909 this figure had risen to 270 and the owners had made a number of purchases of adjoining buildings. The store was one of the largest in Brisbane, in a shopping precinct that rivalled the central business district for the range of shops available.[4]

In 1955 the Myer Emporium took over the McWhirters company and eventually renamed the store Myer, operating until 1988 by which time both its rival department stores, T C Beirne (David Jones) and Waltons, had already closed down. The area had become much less desirable as a shopping district [4] mostly due to the rise of outer suburban shopping complexes such as Westfield Chermside and due to the declining reputation and quality of the suburb that had begun as far back as the 1970s. Myer then concentrated its inner-city business in its Queen Street store (formerly Allan & Stark) in the CBD. After some renovations, the complex reopened in 1989 as McWhirters Marketplace.[4]McWhirters Market Place Queensland in December 1989.

In 1997, it was altered to include apartments on the upper levels.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "McWhirters Marketplace (entry 600214)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 Gregory, Helen (2007). Brisbane Then and Now. Wingfield, South Australia: Salamander Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-74173-011-1.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Kimberley, ed. (2015). Brisbane Art Deco: Stories of our Built Heritage. Brisbane, Australia: Jubilee Studio. ISBN 9780646936598.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "McWhirters Marketplace (entry 600214)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

Coordinates: 27°27′26.77″S 153°02′02.27″E / 27.4574361°S 153.0339639°E / -27.4574361; 153.0339639

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