Brisbane Central Technical College

About

Brisbane Central Technical College is a heritage-listed technical college at 2 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1911 to 1956. It became the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) in 1965, and then in 1987 that became the Queensland University of Technology (QUT 1987 to present). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 August 1999. The college was founded in 1908, and eventually became the Queensland Institute of Technology. While not able to grant bachelor's degrees, the college was able to issue diplomas which gave the recipients the right to "letters" after their name. In 1987 it became Queensland University of Technology and could award bachelor's degrees as well as higher degrees such as Master and Doctorates.

Brisbane Central Technical College had its origins in the North Brisbane School of Arts and Mechanics' Institute opened in 1849. However, the technical college did not get properly underway until April 1881 when there were 22 enrolments for industrial art classes. Housed within the Brisbane School of Arts Building in Ann Street, the college was fully funded by student fees. The following year the technical college officially opened on 4 September 1882. The Department of Public Instruction provided grant funding from 1882. A separate building to house the college was completed in 1884.

Initially, the college was administered by a sub-committee of the School of Arts Committee. However, by 1898, the college had grown to such an extent that it was decided to approach the government to bring in legislation to create a technical college independent of the School of Arts Committee. This resulted in the Brisbane College Incorporation Act of 1898 which came into operation on 1 January 1899 under which an independent college council was established, separate from that of the School of Arts.

From 1901, Public Instruction Department inspectors visited all technical colleges to ensure that government subsidies were being spent appropriately.

From September 1902, the college was supervised by the newly formed Board of Technical Education.

Circa 1906, when the college was in Ann Street (opposite the Brisbane School of Arts, it choose a crest with the Latin motto "Quod Debui Dedi" ("I pay what I owe").

Under the Technical Instruction Act 1908 which came into effect on 1 August 1909, the College was amalgamated with the South Brisbane Technical College and the West End Technical College to form Central Technical College, Brisbane. It also brought the newly formed Central College under the direct control of the Minister for Public Instruction.

The College moved to new quarters on the Old Government House site in November 1914.

Between 1920 (circa year) and 1924, the College housed students from Brisbane State High School (formerly Brisbane Junior High School). During this period, the College comprised three high school departments, namely: Commercial High School, Domestic Science School, and Technical High School. In the 1920s, these departments received the status of State High Schools.

After 1965, the college was gradually phased out and replaced by a number of technical colleges with a focus on apprenticeship training at South Brisbane, Eagle Farm, Yeronga, Kangaroo Point, Seven Hills, Ithaca, Coorparoo and Milton. The college at Gardens Point closed in 1974, to be replaced in January 1965 by the Queensland Institute of Technology, which provided higher-level professional diplomas in engineering, chemistry, architecture, building, and management studies. In January 1989, the institute became the current Queensland University of Technology.

Originally a group of nine, free-standing, bold, red facebrick buildings grouped around a central courtyard, the former Brisbane Central Technical College was designed in 1909 and opened for classes in 1915. Located at the southeast end of George Street, the former Brisbane Central Technical College occupies the northwest portion of the Gardens Point Campus of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) adjacent to Parliament House. The QUT Campus is located on a former government reserve which was worked as the government garden from 1825 and became the Government House Domain in 1860 with Old Government House (as it is now known) being the residence of the Queensland Governor. In 1909 the Governor removed to Fernberg, Bardon (the current Government House ) and the Domain then accommodated the newly established institutions of the University of Queensland and the Brisbane Central Technical College. Old Government House became the main building of the University of Queensland and a group of nine purpose-built buildings was constructed to the northwest for the Brisbane Central Technical College.

In nineteenth century Australia, technical colleges were established by Schools of Arts or Mechanics Institutes. Technical education classes commenced in Brisbane in the 1870s, administered by the Brisbane School of Arts which established the Brisbane Technical College in 1882. Classes were conducted in a purpose-built extension to Brisbane School of Arts in Ann Street and in various other rented premises throughout the city. From 1900 there was insufficient suitable accommodation available to cater for increasing student numbers. Though nominally private institutions, technical institutes received funding from the Queensland Government and, as Government involvement in technical education increased in the early twentieth century, technical education was absorbed into the Department of Public Instruction. During 1907 the department investigated the establishment of a central technical college, reviewing models for similar enterprises in America and Britain. Under the Technical Instruction Act 1908 the Brisbane Technical College, South Brisbane Technical College and West End Technical College were amalgamated to form the Brisbane Central Technical College.

There was strong support for technical education in Queensland and this was the only Australian state to plan and construct a complex of buildings for a technical college. Sketch plans for nine two-storey buildings grouped around a central courtyard, linked with covered ways were prepared by the Department of Public Works in 1909. Designed as a cohesive group of similar scale and materials, eight buildings are arranged in a square with three facing the main drive to Old Government House. The ninth building, the Workshops block, is set back towards the river closing off the courtyard. Following an American model for technical education, the main departments of the college were assigned a dedicated building.

The construction was undertaken in two sections. A tender for £ 64,060/16/3 from contractor James Mason was accepted in March 1911 for the six buildings included in Section One:

- B Block : Administration and Examination Hall

- F Block : Wool-classing and Building Construction

- G Block : Physics and Electrical Engineering

- H Block : Civil and Mechanical Engineering

- J Block : Workshops In July 1912, James Mason successfully tendered £ 37,630/16/3 for Section Two which included the remaining three buildings of the campus:

- D Block : Domestic Science Amendments were made to the original scheme during construction, including the addition of an extra storey to the Physics and Electrical Engineering building to accommodate the teaching of Biology. The covered ways to the ground and first floor levels were not built. The corridors within the buildings and the location of the building entrances reflect the circulation and physical relationships proposed in the original master plan. Building progress was hampered by strikes and materials shortages but the Brisbane Central Technical College was finally opened for classes in February 1915.