Geebung State School is a heritage-listed state school at 250 Newman Road, Geebung, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 31 May 2019.
History Geebung State School, which opened in 1953, is located in the residential suburb of Geebung, approximately north of the Brisbane CBD. The school is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains its:
1950s site planning two Boulton & Paul Buildings (Blocks C, 1953, extended 1954; Block D, 1953, extended 1953), with Department of Public Works (DPW)-designed extensions (Block C, 1956; Block D, 1960) a highset timber school building with semi-enclosed stair (Block E, 1956, extended: , ) a highset timber administration bridging wing (1956) covered walkways (1953, 1956) landscaped grounds with mature trees, assembly and play areas, and sporting facilities.
The school has a strong and ongoing association with its surrounding community.
The school site is located within the traditional lands of the Turrbal people. This site was used for agriculture from 1866 until its resumption for school purposes in 1949.Alienation of Por 346 S3146 (10acres) to J G Lampreckt. Deed: 14582. See: Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DRNME), Survey Plan S3146, 18DNRME, Survey Plan S3146, 1866. Geebung remained predominately a farming community, growing fruit and vegetables, until after World War II (WWII). Thereafter, residential subdivision flourished in response to population growth resulting from immigration and the post-war baby boom. Industrial development in Geebung, to the north of the North Coast railway line (established in 1888), also occurred after the war. Geebung's population grew rapidly from 807 in 1947 to 7000 in 1954, making a primary school necessary.
Plans for a school were drawn by the DPW in 1951. In the early 1950s, architects developed masterplanning concepts that influenced the design and layout of the whole school. Initially, these plans were broadly based on regular and symmetrical plan forms around a central or prominent axis.Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp. 73-74. Geebung State School's site planning reflected this concept. The buildings were located on the highest point of the school site. They were aligned roughly east–west and parallel to each other, linked by covered walkways, and with play and parade space between them.
At this time, the overriding concern for the Department of Public Instruction was the need to build school buildings as expeditiously and economically as possible.Burmester, et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 70. Responding to materials shortages and the pressures of the baby boom, the DPW imported a British building system from manufacturers Boulton & Paul Ltd of Norwich, England. These modular buildings were constructed at many schools across Queensland between 1951 and 1958, including at Geebung State School.Burmester, et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 68.
Boulton & Paul buildings were timber-framed and -clad, with a verandah for circulation, and a gable roof. Ideally, they were oriented so the verandah faced north and classrooms faced south, but were also added as extensions to existing buildings regardless of orientation. The building could be high or low-set and had extensive areas of timber-framed awning windows, providing more glazing than had ever been used in Queensland classrooms; almost the entirety of the verandah wall and the opposite classroom wall were glazed. Natural ventilation and lighting was abundant. The classrooms were , larger than most previous classrooms.
Geebung State School's first two buildings (Blocks C & D) were of this type. Block C, to the south, was a highset timber Boulton & Paul Building comprising three classrooms of , plus a teachers' room and a head teachers room. Block C connected to Block D to its north via a highset, covered, timber walkway long. Block D comprised: one classroom, , and a hat room. Both blocks had trussed roofs and were supported on stumps and metal posts, with stairs within the verandah space. Drawings for Block C and D from 1952 indicate that the core of the buildings were to be supported on stumps with antcaps, and stumps are visible in photographs taken during the construction of Block C. It is likely that timber stumps were used for the earliest sections of Block C, then replaced with metal posts. However, for later sections of Block C and all of Block D it appears that metal posts were used from the outset. This is evidenced by outlines in the concrete slab surrounding the metal posts under the first four classrooms of Block C, which suggest a larger supporting member was removed and the metal post inserted, while the concrete finishes flush around the metal posts elsewhere.Kath Ballard, Geebung Story - The Next Fifty Years, Kath Ballard, Geebung, 1998, p. 242ePlan drawing 13967602, Boulton & Paul PRF Units School Arrangement, 4 Mar 1952. The southern elevations comprised banks of awning windows. On the north elevation were verandahs with continuous posts, and balustrades of timber rails. Partitions with central doors connected classrooms. Underneath was play space, with timber bracing walls and vertical boarded enclosures to the south elevation."Geebung State School", Project Services Report, 2006DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1953, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1953, p. 6 and image after p. 17.
With its buildings completed in time for the commencement of the 1953 school year on 27 January, the Geebung State School opened with 223 pupils.Kath Ballard, Geebung Story, p. 244. Construction had cost £12,780.DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1953, p. 14. Electricity was not yet connected and the school grounds were unfenced and un-landscaped.'Letters to the Editor: Geebung School', Brisbane Telegraph, 24 Mar 1953, p. 4.
At the official opening of Geebung State School on 29 August 1953, performed by Attorney-General William J Power, accompanied by local member, Herbert F Robinson, MLA for Sandgate, it was announced that a further £1000 would be spent on ground improvements and the addition of two classrooms."Open £12,500 Geebung School", The Courier-Mail, 31 Aug 1953, p. 6"School Opened", Brisbane Telegraph, 29 Aug 1953, p. 10. These classrooms were added at the eastern end of Block D by November 1953, completing the original building plan.DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1954, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1954, after p. 20ePlan drawing 13967613, "Geebung SS 2 additional classrooms", 24 Nov 1953.
The school population continued to rise rapidly, necessitating further classroom accommodation. Between 1954 and 1960, the buildings were extended multiple times, in a style consistent with the original Boulton & Paul buildings, forming a cohesive complex. Block C was extended by two Boulton & Paul classrooms to its east by September 1954, in accordance with a plan drawn in November 1953.ePlan drawing 19367613, "Geebung SS 2 additional classrooms", 24 Nov 1953ePlan, drawing 11877305, 'Geebung SS additions, 29 Sep 1954.
Plans were drawn in September 1954 for the addition of a Head Teachers Office, and male and female staffrooms attached to the covered walkway between Blocks C and D; and of a new classroom to the western end of Block C.ePlan, drawing 11877305, 'Geebung SS additions, 29 Sep 1954DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1955, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1955, p.17Aerial, QImagery QAP0542001, 1 Jul 1955. Conversion of the covered walkway into a Bridging Administration Wing had been planned as early as 4 March 1952, and was a typical location for an administration building in a 1950s site plan. The DPW-designed classroom addition to Block C demonstrated the influence of Boulton & Paul Buildings on subsequent school design. The additions were completed by March 1956. Unlike Boulton & Paul buildings, these were not modular.ePlan drawing 13967602, Boulton & Paul PRF Units School Arrangement, 4 Mar 1952
In March 1956, plans were drawn for the addition of a third classroom block (Block E) comprising three classrooms, 21 ft (6.4m) wide, and a connecting timber covered walkway to Block D, which was lowset at the south end and highset at the north end, bridging a concrete pathway and retaining wall that ran along the south side of the Block E understorey. Also planned was a Medical Room beneath the north end of the administration bridging wing between Blocks C and D. Block E was supported on concrete stumps, with open space beneath for play. The building had a north-facing verandah with hat and bag racks. However, the eastern-most classroom extended across the building's width to form a classroom .ePlan, drawing 11877294, 'Geebung SS Additional 3 classrooms & Medical Room, 2 Mar 1956.
This building was constructed to the standard plan for a highset timber school building with semi-enclosed stair, introduced in 1950 by the Department of Public Instruction. This type comprised a long and narrow building with a gable roof. A semi-enclosed stair connected the understorey to a north-facing verandah running the length of the building. The building was a highset timber-framed structure and the understorey was used as covered play space. Classrooms opened off the verandah and had extensive areas of windows; almost the entirety of the verandah wall and the opposite classroom wall were glazed, allowing abundant natural light and ventilation. This type was the most commonly constructed in the 1950s in Queensland.Type (F/T4). Burmester, et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, p. 116. The building at Geebung State School cost £12,233.DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1956, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1956, p. 17.
With the school population still rising, by April 1958 Block E had been extended by three classrooms to its west, at a cost of £7127.ePlan, drawing 11877283, "Geebung SS Additions", May 1957QImagery aerial, QAP0733012, 1 Apr 1958DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1958, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1958, p. 18. Block E was extended again, by two classrooms to the west, in the financial year to 30 June 1959, with the end classroom supported on timber trusses.ePlan, drawing 11877272, "Geebung SS Additions", 25 Jun 1958DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1959, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1959, p. 16. Block D was also extended, by one DPW-designed classroom to its west, in 1960, which unlike the earlier Boulton & Paul sections had crimped metal-clad bag rack balustrades to the upper verandah.ePlan drawing 11877261 "Geebung SS Additions", 18 Jan 1960DPW, Annual Report of the DPW to 30 Jun 1960, Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane, 1960, p. 14QImagery, Aerial, QAP1089092, 12 Dec 1960. A new classroom was created beneath this western one, to a plan approved in July 1961.ePlan, 'drawing 11877250, "Geebung SS Alterations, New Class room", 3 Jul 1961.
By May 1962, a further wing to the south was planned. It was drawn parallel to Block C, to which it connected by a covered walkway to its north.ePlan, drawing 11877228, "Geebung SS drainage Site Plan", 1 Jun 1962. This wing (Block B) was on-site by 7 July 1964, but its alignment with Block C formed a V-shaped courtyard, which reflected mid-1950s master planning rather than the school's early 1950s site plan.ePlan, DPW Drawing 1256-345/2 Geebung State School Drainage Site PlanBurmester, et al, Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, pp. 73-4QImagery, Aerial, QAP15073047, 7 Jul 1964.