page_title: Old Mineral House
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Old Mineral House / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Building of Smellie Co. Ltd. Hardware, corner of Edward and Alice Street, Brisbane Queensland, circa 1920
context_page_description: Old Mineral House is a heritage-listed warehouse at 2 Edward Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Richard Gailey and built from 1888 to 1890s by William Anthony. It is also known as Smellie & Co Warehouse and the Industrial High School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
context_section_description: This warehouse was constructed for the firm of Smellie & Co in 1888 with extensions in the late 1890s.
  RR Smellie & Co was established in the 1860s as a foundry and engineering works in Alice Street, producing cast iron products for the building industry, and equipment for steamships and locomotives. In the 1880s, RR Smellie & Co altered the orientation of its business, concentrating on importing machinery, implements, and general hardware supplies. The repair and manufacturing plant of RR Smellie & Co was continued by Smith, Forrester, and Co. In 1882, the company became known as Smellie & Co.
  The change in direction of the business meant that Smellie & Co required warehouse space. A double-storeyed warehouse was constructed further along Alice Street c. 1884 but these premises proved to be too small as the business prospered in the 1880s. In 1888 a new warehouse, designed by Richard Gailey, was built for the company on the corner of Edward and Alice Streets in 1888. A three storeyed building, it was erected by William Anthony who had tended £6,987 for the project. The warehouse stocked a diverse range of hardware, engineering requisites, and farming equipment.
  The warehouse was flooded in the 1893 Brisbane flood.
  Two storeys were added to the building in the late 1890s as a result of the continuing expansion of the company's business.
  In 1930 this building was leased to ACB Limited, drapers, and in 1935, the Department of Public Works became lessees. The Queensland Government purchased the property in 1945, along with a number of buildings owned by the firm in the area. Smellie & Co Pty Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1946.
  The Department of Public Works has used this building for a variety of purposes since 1945. These uses have given the building its various names – Naval House, the Industrial High School, and Mineral House.
  The Industrial High School moved into the building in 1947. The school had previously been at the Central Technical College (now the Gardens Point campus of Queensland University of Technology) but the conditions there were very cramped.
  In 2015, the building is occupied by a number of businesses including Cox Architecture.
caption: Smellie & Co. Warehouse, corner of Edward and Alice Street, Brisbane, circa 1920
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