Richard Gailey, architect

In my early post-school years, a group of friends lived in a flat in Gailey Rd, Taringa. Close to both the city and the university, this area was ideal for these young people, who were working and studying at the same time. What I didn't know then was that Gailey Rd was named after one of Brisbane's most prolific and enduring architects, Richard Gailey, who designed many buildings in Brisbane around the turn of the twentieth century. Many of them are still standing in full or in part around the city today. Gailey owned substantial property around the Swann Rd area of Taringa, resulting in the naming after him of Gailey Rd, the street that leads from Toowong up the hill to Swann Rd.

If you had to think of an occupation that would enable you to leave your mark on the world, it would be hard to go past that of an architect. You could argue authors or composers, but I think buildings are probably a more tangible and readily accessible legacy than words or music. Richard Gailey's legacy is visible all over Brisbane more than eighty years after his death.

Let's look at some of his work.

The Regatta Hotel - Coronation Drive, Toowong

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #12977)

Watson Bros (Plumbers) Building, Margaret St (now Wilson's Parking)

(Photos: Left - State library of Queensland and John Oxley Library #89333; Right - © 2009 the foto fanatic)

CML building, 62 Queen St

Old Myer Store (formerly Allan & Stark), Queen St

Irish Club, Elizabeth St

Metro Arts Building, Edward St

(Photos: © 2009 the foto fanatic)

Moorlands - Coronation Drive, Toowong

(Photo: State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library; #199893)

The Baptist Tabernacle, Wickham Terrace

(Photos: Left - State Library of Queensland and John Oxley Library #146445; Right - © 2009 the foto fanatic)

Click any photo to see a larger image.

The list continues: Brisbane Grammar School; Smellie & Co building, Edward & Alice Sts; and, given that he reportedly was a staunch Baptist, a curious mixture of numerous suburban Baptist churches and over thirty suburban hotels. Gailey also designed the refurbishment of and extensions to Fernberg (now Government House) at Paddington in 1888.

Gailey's son, Richard junior, also became an architect. He designed the still marvellous Brisbane Arcade for Dr James Mayne, which was built on the site of the original Mayne family home in Queen St.

tff

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