Enjoy while it lasts by *phenomenologist on deviantART
If you’d like to see a larger image of the photos in this post, click on them then click on “full view” once you’re inside the gallery.
Once you’re out of the inner city, the vista the suburbs present to your eye from the train window is a tad undifferentiated. Sure, you can pick where weatherboard gives way to brick, as you travel through time as well as space, but if you’re not paying attention, it’s not that hard to miss your station. And in Brisbane you’re out of the inner city pretty quickly - the distance of two stations does it. Unlike Sydney and Melbourne, you’re speedily in the realm of big quarter acre blocks with old houses perched and shifting on their stilts as they hug the verdant hills, knowing that they’re interlopers. But some - landmarks is the wrong word - icons compel your eye’s focus.
No one who’s ever caught the Caboolture or Sandgate-Shorncliffe trains would ever miss Albion station. The old flour mill is too delightfully out of scale and incongruous to miss. It dwarfs its surroundings.
It’s lain vacant for six years now - as with so many other noteable Brisbane buildings, the victim of a tussle between the Council and developers, eventually to be resolved mostly in the latter’s favour - with the token addition of a modicum of public housing (which will give the new residents something to whine about) and a claim about economic renewal. The increase in the value of the surrounding real estate usually goes untouted - at least by the planning authorities, concerned ostensibly with public purposes as they are. It’s this sort of thing that led to a lot of disillusion with the Labor administrations of Jim Soorley and Tim Quinn, and probably contributed to former Labor leader David Hinchliffe almost losing his ward in the election just a few short weeks ago.
There’s a good and a bad way to do the post-industrial redevelopment thing. LP regulars might recall my regular paeans of praise to the Brisbane Powerhouse - a building redeveloped as a public art space that’s so much more - music venue, hangout, familiar friend, constant source of wonder. Sadly, the Albion Mill looks to be the bad sort of redevelopment.
The developers, FKP Property Group, say:
The Albion Flour Mill has played a significant role in Brisbane’s history. Built in 1930 at a time when Australia was feeling the effects of its worst economic depression, The Mill continued operations for more than 72 years. During its years of operation, The Mill generated significant employment opportunities that led to the development of Albion and the surrounding areas.
The Albion Mill ceased operation in 2002 – however its heart and soul will live on as key features within the new community remain.
The first paragraph speaks the truth.
Enjoy while it lasts II by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Check out the artist’s impression of what will be “The Mill, Albion” and tell me if it’s soulful.
Designed by architect - Richard Kirk, The Mill will deliver an outstanding community of luxury apartments, A-grade commercial office space and a vibrant retail precinct. Residents, workers and guests will enjoy a full-line supermarket and an array of cafes, restaurants and gourmet food.
Enjoy while it lasts III by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Meanwhile, down the hill from the station, slumbering under the gaze of the mill, in the valley between Albion and Windsor and Lutwyche, Albion Road still retains the feel the area had for some decades - sleepy, working class, peopled with older folk, the proverbial working families and eccentrics.
Albion Road, late afternoon by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Workers cottage by *phenomenologist on deviantART
To the north, the workers cottages, which once housed the labourers whose memory the developers wish to celebrate even as they erase its material traces, have their own authenticity questioned by new back decks as big as the tiny two bedroom dwellings once were.
We can only imagine what the mill might have looked like if someone with the same vision which transformed the Powerhouse had cast an eye over it. Sundering the link between developers’ donations to political parties and the planning process can’t come quick enough, but it will have already been too late for Albion’s heritage.
Brisbane Powerhouse I by *phenomenologist on deviantART
Mark:
Such sweet words …. from a mob that stand to make - how many hundred million dollars for themselves?
Time we had some long-range innovative urban planning that will benefit future generations and not just a tiny handful of officials, politicians, “experts” and investors. We need intelligent and beneficial progress. It would make such a nice change.
[Used to look up at the flour mill at Albion station from the train on my way to college each day
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I must admit, the Mill stood out on the Caboolture line.
Having a look at what their replacing it with, well, It leaves me a bit torn.
I believe in progress, I want to see the new and adventurous tried out, because each generation should be able to present their best work as much as the last, heritage laws that protect everything because it’s old is a bit thoughtless, as it doesn’t give appreciation to either the past or the present.
But this isn’t about an everyday structure. The mill is a true landmark that is worth heritage listing and worth preserving, it’s unique to the city (in a way, at least) and while it may not have represented the best architectural style of the time it still casts the areas character, as Mark has said.
It would seem that the developer has only given cursory value to this, and hasn’t exactly expanded the boundaries of modern design either, opting for a very safe design, no doubt thinking about the buildings yield. But that’s the problem, the market won’t pay for heritage, it’s wrong and its stupid but as a general rule the most “average” properties available are undoubtedly the ones that get sold first, the developers are just responding to the market.
Maybe that’s where the problem lies, and not wholly with greedy developers, re-election focused councilors and power hording political parties.
This is my neck of the woods, I’ve lived in the area since about 1986-87 and have always loved the old brick buildings at The Mill. What I have never liked is the TAB building just down the road which towers above the rest of Albion like a massive pimple on a smooth patch of skin. The new buildings at The Mill will be as many storeys tall as the TAB building is, putting a huge amount of pressure on the rest of the area to allow development of high rise apartments which will just clog Sandgate Rd even further.
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Albion already has a small business retail and dining culture and it’s really picked up in recent years. The path to further renewal of the area will come by getting the traffic off that patch of Sandgate Rd. Sandgate Rd dips down to one lane in each direction at that point with a small amount of kerbside parking and a bus stop on each side. Frodsham St takes the brunt of the morning commute traffic as it’s four lanes downhill towards the ICB. I’d be happy to see Sandgate Rd blocked, traffic calmed or made closed to cars at the Albion Overpass and not reopened until Frodsham St. Streets like Hudson Rd and Birkbeck St are currently rat-run routes for those wishing to get between Lutwyche Rd and Sandgate Rd without having to go up Lisson Grove and Bonney Avenue (which are much wider) or Albion Rd (which has a set of traffic lights in the middle of it).
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I had a look at the proposal for the redevelopment of the Mill site and was pleased that the carparking spaces will be somewhat limited because it’s next to a train station. I would prefer to see something like Berkeley’s (USA) car sharing scheme for apartment dwellers in which one car is shared between the tenants of four or five apartments because they don’t really need it all the time, what with being close to public transport. The new buildings won’t be settled by people who work in the area and the office workers in the new building likely won’t come from the area, either. We’re going to see cross-commuting in the form of cars clogging up the roads or increased public transport demand in a severely capacity-constrained system.
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Too many new buildings will be going up on the site and it will detract from the heritage environment of the Mill. What makes the Powerhouse so successful is that there have only been minor modifications to the outside areas of the buildings and the rest of the lot is genuinely public space. Shopping plazas internal to mixed use buildings are not somewhere you can sit with your partner and discuss life, run around with your kids or walk your dog. The nearest park is Windsor Park on McDonald Rd which requires walking either over the Albion Overpass and navigating the intersection of McLennan St and Albion Rd or walking through the train station and under the overpass (not pleasant!)
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It’s not going to improve the livability of the community and will put more cars on an already problematic road. There does need to be a more intelligent and people-focussed planning process for the area but unfortunately we’re stuck with the Albion Master Plan. Prepare to see Crosby Park carved up for developers, too.
Like Pinkyoz, I’ve got mixed feelings about the proposed Mill development. Yes, I agree the new plans are far from soulful. And it is disappointing that some more culturally-focussed elements are absent. Big developers will also continue the annoying Brisbane habit of stealing the name from the previous occupants (eg Festival Towers, Regent Tower) while blithely ignoring the previous use.
But the Mill building has become dilapidated in recent years and as a local, I’m pleased to see there is the potential for at least some urban regeneration in the plans. Albion could do with some new ideas and while the Mill plan is far from perfect, I’m glad it is finally moving.
While Albion is barely 6km from the city centre, it is hampered by the vast Mayne railyards which interrupt the continuity from the nearby inner suburbs of the Valley and Bowen Hills.
I see the area as having a lot of potential to become a more lively environment if they get the transport model right. Albion station is a fantastic resource and it would be nice to see some of the plans Sam talks about come to fruition.
Thanks for the article, Mark, and I think its time to dig into the council minutes to understand a bit more of the history of the decision-making around the Mill.
Derek, I posted on my Livejournal about a year ago regarding my initial thoughts about the Mill site’s development.
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I would love to have seen some of the big open space alongside the tail end of Albion Rd (next to the current carpark) turned into an open plaza that leads from Hudson Rd to the station itself so that more people than just the residents can use it. I’d also like to see energy efficiency and all things environmental considered such as native trees, CFL downlights rather than Halogen downlights, waste water reticulation, etc.
I think there’s a huge need for a community group in the area given the change in character that the mill redevelopment will likely precipitate. Albion-Wooloowin is the perfect spot for unscrupulous developers to plunder what with the amount of “excess government land” that Main Roads owns (a few weeks ago the empty block between Morris St and Merehaye St was sold; this will split the community surrounding Holy Cross in two). I want to start talking to people in the area about protecting ourselves from bad development.
Thanks for the comments, folks.
Sam and Derek - I hope you can get some debate going among the local community.
I tend to think these things happen the wrong way around. Developers make proposals, and people are asked to comment. It would be much better if people were asked to work out how they would like to see the area developed, and then developers were contracted to do it!
Mark, you’re not wrong. To me, the role of Council is to facilitate the desires of the local people coming to fruition. We should be able to put forward neighbourhood plans, traffic calming and public space ideas and have our requests listened to by those who represent us. I’m not a fan of the current community “consultation” process and Newman’s attempts to engage with the local people have been quite lacklustre.
I’m wondering if there’s any literature around from the urban planning perspective about how and why to do this, Sam. We’ve got four years before the next Council campaign - and I reckon if we put some energy in we could build a bit of a campaign that may make a big impact down the track!
Street Reclaiming by David Engwicht is a good book that deals with building community within a street with things like traffic calming and street festivals. As for public space urban planning and community driven development I have no idea. I’ve got a mate who’s a part time lecturer in Urban Design at QUT so I’ll see if he can recommend anything. I guess you’d have already borne the brunt of the wave of poor development with New Farm and Teneriffe being in your area. All those architectural models masquerading as houses down on Lamington St, for example.
Everyone:
You can have your cake and eat it too. You can preserve heritage and ambiance while getting development and hefty profits …. but to do that, you really do have to use your noggin.
Look at what has been done in Hannover or Vienna or Paris …. or, closer to home, to the old warehouses and woolstores along the Brisbane River or Sydney Harbour west of the Bridge.
There is an alternative to very ugly and horribly expensive architecture.
Graham, that’s the idea. Montpelier in France has a lovely old world charm while still being a modern city with light rail and cafe/plaza culture strong in the CBD. We should stop our heritage buildings (and their sites) being torn down or modified to the point where they’re unrecognisable. The Mill will end up being hidden away behind office buildings. The same sort of thing was one of the problems with North Bank, we were going to be stuck with the Commisariat Stores (one of Brisbane City’s most fascinating old buildings) being hidden away.
My wishes for the area is the Riverside Expressway being torn down (seriously, the NSBT will do in its place) and that section of the river bend being converted into a public space with a better bikeway stretching all the way to QUT/Botanic Gardens and a pedestrian/bike bridge from the Botanic Gardens to Kangaroo Point that doesn’t suffer from the same horrible design that the Tank St bridge will. The Victoria Bridge will need replacing one day and it’s going to be much harder to do it with North Bank development in the way.