Wynnum Ambulance Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wynnum Ambulance Station |
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Wynnum Ambulance Station, 2014
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| Location | 33 Tingal Road, Wynnum, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1919–1930s (interwar period) |
| Built | 1926–27 |
| Official name: Wynnum Ambulance Station (former), QATB Station | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 26 March 1999 |
| Reference no. | 601778 |
| Significant period | 1926–27 (fabric) 1920s-1990s (historical) |
| Significant components | residential accommodation – superintendent's house/quarters, ambulance bay, residential accommodation – housing, garage |
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The Wynnum Ambulance Station is a special building in Wynnum, Australia. It used to be an ambulance station but is now a museum. It is also known as the Queensland Ambulance Museum and the QATB Station.
This building was constructed between 1926 and 1927. It is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register because of its important history. You can visit the museum by making an appointment.
Contents
The Story of Ambulance Services
The old Wynnum Ambulance Centre is a landmark building. It shows how much the community supported the ambulance service. It also highlights how the service relied on community help, donations, volunteers, and dedicated staff.
How Ambulance Services Started in Queensland
In the early days of Brisbane, the police helped people who had accidents. From 1884, the Defence Ambulance Corps also started helping.
The City Ambulance Transport Brigade (CATB) began in September 1892. This happened after an accident at a horse race was not handled well. The main goal of the Brigade was to give first aid and take sick or injured people to hospital. Their first office was in the Courier Building in Brisbane. This was the first ambulance service in the world to pay its staff.
More and more people used the ambulance service. Soon, donations were not enough to cover the costs. In 1895, the Queensland State Government agreed to help. They would give the CATB one dollar for every dollar they raised.
First Ambulance Buildings
Queensland's first building made just for ambulances was built in 1897 in Wharf Street, Brisbane. This building set the standard for future ambulance stations. It was a two-storey building. The ground floor had space for vehicles and staff. The top floor was a home for the ambulance superintendent. Big doors on the ground floor allowed horse-drawn ambulances to leave quickly.
In the late 1890s and early 1900s, the ambulance service grew. New centres opened across Queensland. These included places like Charters Towers (1900), Townsville (1900), and Rockhampton (1901).
In 1902, the Brigade changed its name to the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB). This was to better manage its fast-growing services. New main offices were set up in Ann Street, Brisbane in 1910.
Designing Ambulance Stations
By 1921, the design for ambulance stations had improved. The best plan was a two-storey building. The ground floor had garages, treatment rooms, first aid areas, and sleeping rooms for ambulance staff. It also had a meeting room. The superintendent's home was on the top floor. This design was popular because it was cheaper than building two separate places. It also allowed the superintendent to be close to their work. In bigger towns, there were also places for staff to relax and extra rooms for staff who slept there. Many large ambulance stations were built across Queensland using this plan.
The government continued to help the QATB. The Department of Public Works designed and built the ambulance stations. In 1991, the QATB changed. It became the Queensland Transport Ambulance Service (QAS).
A newspaper in 1902 said that the ambulance service was "amongst the permanent institutions of society." This shows how important people thought the ambulance service was, and still is today.
Wynnum's Ambulance Story
Wynnum is a seaside area in south-east Brisbane, along Moreton Bay. In the 1840s, it was a popular spot for fishing. Many early settlers also started farms there. The railway came to Wynnum in 1888. This helped the area grow quickly. Wynnum became known as a seaside resort. Many people visited Wynnum and Manly for day trips and holidays.
People thought Wynnum was a healthy place to live. It had sea breezes, safe beaches, and views of Moreton Bay. The area kept growing as more people moved there. New services, buildings, and community groups were created.
Early Days of Wynnum Ambulance
The Wynnum ambulance service was an important community group. It started in 1915 with a first aid tent on Wynnum beach. This tent helped holidaymakers during Easter and Christmas.
As the main ambulance station in Ann Street grew, smaller branches opened in nearby areas. These were placed near railway lines. This made it easy to take patients to major hospitals in Brisbane. Wynnum was a good spot for an ambulance station because it was a busy area and on the railway line to Brisbane. The Wynnum branch started in 1919. They first used a small house on Tingal Road. The Wynnum Ambulance Station covered a large area, from Lytton to Redland Bay.
In 1920, the Wynnum Ambulance Committee bought land at the corner of Tingal Road and Cedar Street. This spot was perfect: close to the railway, on the main road, and near the heart of Wynnum. This is where the new ambulance station would be built in 1927. By 1921, Wynnum became its own ambulance centre. In 1922, they bought more land. Ambulance operations moved to a cottage at 35 Tingal Road. The front porch of this cottage was used for storage and as a casualty room. A garage for the ambulance vehicle was built behind the land.
In the early days, many ambulance volunteers were school teachers. Stretchers were kept at Wynnum Central School. When someone needed an ambulance, they would call the school. The teachers would put the patient on a train. Ambulance staff from Brisbane would meet the train at South Brisbane Station.
Building the New Station
Wynnum was growing fast, and the old ambulance setup was not big enough. In 1923, the Wynnum community started raising money for a new ambulance station. It would be built on the Tingal Road and Cedar Street corner. The community was very excited. On the day the foundation stone was laid, there was a big parade with floats and music. This showed how much the community supported the new building. They had already raised £1384 towards the £4200 needed to build it.
The foundation stone was laid on 26 January 1926. Christina Jane Thynne laid it for her husband, Colonel Andrew Joseph Thynne. He was the first President of the QATB. She shared his message that "an ambulance has now become an indisputable part of every town in Queensland." He said it showed a high level of "civic spirit" and helped people.
Walter Henry Barnes, a local politician, also spoke. He said that "if any one wants to find practical Christianity he could find it among those doing ambulance work." He believed the new building would be a great advertisement for the growing area.
The new ambulance station cost £3284. It opened on 19 November 1927. The Department of Public Works gave £750. The Wynnum community raised the rest of the money. An architecture journal said the new building was "pleasing in effect" and a "valuable step" for Wynnum. Leonard Kempster from the Department of Public Works designed the building. Mr C.R. Schriver was the builder.
Leonard Kempster was an architect who worked for the Queensland Department of Public Works for many years. He also designed the Childers QATB station. The Wynnum Ambulance Station's design was typical for ambulance stations in regional areas at that time. It had two floors. The superintendent's home was upstairs, connected by stairs to the ground floor. This allowed the superintendent to easily get to work. The ground floor had the ambulance garage, office, meeting room, and rooms for staff.
In 1946, a QATB sub-centre opened in Cleveland. As more sub-centres opened, the Wynnum Ambulance Station became less busy.
From 1940 to 1995, changes were made to the sheds, garages, and cottages on the property. In the 1940s, a garage, workshop, and store were built behind the station. In 1995, the superintendent moved out of the top floor of the building. The Tingal Road Ambulance Station stopped operating in 1996. A new ambulance centre opened near Wynnum Hospital.
Today, the top floor of the old Wynnum Ambulance Station is used by the Community Education Unit of the QAS. The ground floor houses the Queensland Ambulance Service Historical Society (QASHS) and the Wynnum Historical Society. The QASHS runs the Queensland Ambulance Museum from here. They have several old ambulances, including a 1926 Arrol Johnson ambulance. The museum is open by appointment.
What the Building Looks Like
The former Wynnum Ambulance Station is a two-storey building made of red bricks. It stands out on the corner of Tingal Road and Cedar Street in Wynnum. The main side faces Tingal Road and is very visible.
Outside Features
The building sits on a base of blue bricks. It has a central section that sticks out and is topped with a decorative wall (parapet). This central part has two wide doorways on the ground floor. These used to have bi-fold doors for ambulances. The right-hand doors have been changed to glass sliding doors. On the upper level, there are two large arched windows.
Cream-coloured bands wrap around the building, highlighting the corners and the central section. The main entrance has a plain projecting cornice (a decorative ledge) supported by three heavy brackets. The arched windows on the upper level have plain arches with noticeable keystones (the wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch). The letters QATB are at the top of the parapet. Below the arched windows, the words "Wynnum Centre" are written. The central section is flanked by bays with pilasters (flat, decorative columns). Each bay on the ground floor has a single doorway with a small canopy. The building has a gambrel tiled roof, which has two different slopes on each side. A flagpole rises above the parapet.
The side of the building facing Cedar Street is simpler. It was the entrance to the superintendent's home. It looks more like a house. Brick pilasters with vertical cream bands define this side. A timber annex (an added part) is on the right side and is covered with weatherboards. An outside concrete staircase leads to the main entrance of the living quarters on the upper level. This entrance has a bi-fold timber door and a small overhang.
The back of the building is hidden by four garage bays, each with a tilt-up door. The corners of the main building on this side are covered with weatherboards. The timber verandah on the upper level at the back has been enclosed with windows later on.
The north side of the building also has corner pilasters with vertical cream bands. On the ground floor, this side is divided into two equal sections by a pilaster. Each lower section has a sash window.
Inside the Station
The ambulance operations were on the ground floor, and the superintendent's home was on the upper floor. On the ground floor, the large entry doorways open into a drive-through area for ambulances. Around this area are other rooms, including a committee room, office, bathroom, and rooms for staff to sleep and relax. There is also a casualty room. The smaller front entrances open into the committee room on the left and the casualty room on the right. A timber platform has been built over the concrete floor in the ambulance area. The covered area at the back, used for washing cars and laundry, has been enclosed with weatherboards. The original back door has been moved. Garages built behind the station now block the drive-through path. Inside stairs in the laundry connect to the home upstairs.
The home on the upper level has a central hallway. Three bedrooms and the dining room face Tingal Road. The kitchen, sitting room, and another bedroom open onto a verandah facing north-east. Back stairs near the kitchen lead directly to the ground floor laundry. The entrance from Cedar Street is through an outside concrete staircase that leads to the central hallway. Some walls and doors inside have been removed. The back verandah has been enclosed with windows. A toilet, laundry, and a drying area on the roof have been added off the north-east corner of the verandah.
A garage that was built behind the site off Cedar Street has been removed. More garages and workshop space have been built behind the station. Six bays of garages and workshops, made of brick and timber, run parallel to Cedar Street from the back of the station to the property line. Four of these bays are right next to the back of the station.
The nearby timber cottage is covered with chamferboards (beveled timber planks). It sits on short timber stumps and has a pyramid roof. The cottage has four rooms off a central hallway, an attached kitchen, and front and back verandahs. The front steps have been removed, and the front verandah railings have been covered. The back verandah is enclosed and has a small porch and toilet. Inside the cottage, some walls have been removed, and new openings made. Some of the original timber stumps have been replaced with steel supports.
Why Wynnum Ambulance Station is Important
The former Wynnum Ambulance Station is a special heritage site. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 March 1999 for several reasons:
- It shows how Queensland's history developed.
The station, along with the nearby cottage and garages, shows how ambulance services in Wynnum grew. It adapted to new technology and more demand. The cottage is important because it shows how the ambulance service moved from a temporary place to a purpose-built building. The station's location near the railway was key. It made it easier to take patients to hospitals in Brisbane. The Wynnum ambulance service was a vital community group that grew as the Wynnum area expanded in the early 1900s.
- It is a rare example of its kind.
The former Wynnum Ambulance Station is the only known early brick ambulance station in Queensland that also included a home for the superintendent.
- It shows the main features of its type of building.
This station is a great example of early ambulance station design in Queensland. It's a two-storey building with ambulance facilities on the ground floor and living quarters upstairs. This design was improved from the first main ambulance building in Brisbane in 1897. The building is mostly unchanged. It clearly shows what early residential ambulance stations were like.
- It is beautiful to look at.
The former Wynnum Ambulance Station adds a lot to the look of the street. It is a well-designed public building, like police stations, courthouses, and schools, that were built by the Department of Public Works before World War II.
- It is connected to important people or groups in Queensland's history.
The former Wynnum Ambulance Station is important because of its link to the Queensland Ambulance Service (formerly QATB). It was built during a time when the service was expanding into outer Brisbane and other parts of Queensland.
