noosa-heads

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6.9                   POWELL HOUSE
LOCATION                     16 Noosa Parade, Noosa Heads

TENURE                       Freehold. 7N21841

DATES                        1991

DESCRIPTION                  The building is a south-east Queensland detached town house built to take advantage of
                             the light and cross ventilation. The ‘H-shaped’ plan configuration consists of two long
                             ‘thin’ wings that contain living areas on one side and bedrooms on two levels on the
                             other. An atrium or breezeway in the middle provides a private garden courtyard. ‘I first
                             came across the idea when I saw an old plantation homestead in Buderim [the house of
                             Buderim pioneer Harry Board]... it had developed the idea of thin wings and a central
                             atrium...’52
                             The design uses elements of the historic Queensland verandah ‘...an idiom used by a
                             number of innovative architects in the region,’53 as well as using a central breezeway
                             feature which besides accessing breezes for air movement, also acts as a well for natural
                             light giving filtered illumination to the centre of the house.
                             External ply wall cladding is lightly stained (twenty-five per cent pigment) maroon and
                             turquoise, and other materials include a lime wash render and a corrugated steel roof.
                             This construction allows reduction of bracing allowing more window spaces along the
                             walls of the central courtyard. It also reduces movement and shrinkage allowing for
                             continued unencumbered simple space.
                             Interior features include extensive use of jarrah and silky oak joinery and windows, timber
                             venetians and shutters ‘...reflecting water, beach environment and river.54

6.9.1       BRIEF HISTORY
The Powell House was designed by internationally known local architect John Mainwaring as a family home, and was
built in 1993 on a narrow 600m² block of land bounded on one side by a busy arterial road and on the other by the Noosa
River.
Mainwaring has been recognised for his work by being awarded the Queensland Robin Dods award on several
occasions, the National Robin Boyd Award, the National Sir Zelman Cowan Award and the National Commercial Award
for various buildings within the Shire.
The house won the Queensland Robin Dods award in 1993.
6.9.2       HISTORIC THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
4 (f) Establishing and developing towns - developing a regional style of architecture: residence (house)
4(e) Establishing and developing towns – housing urban populations
6.9.3       POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the domestic building industry in
Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast School of architecture’ 55. The building is a unique structure
in the Shire.
The house represents a blend of regional and international styles, which indicates the influence of architecture from
similar climatic regions in the world and by earlier styles of architecture from the region. It is also an example of the
architect’s willingness to be directed by other than local trends.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria e, f and h based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.


52
     John Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
53
     Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000 p. 124.
54
     John Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
55
  For a detailed discussion of this School of architecture, see Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast,
Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000.