The remnants of our tenant’s office, Archicentre
Apologies for lack of communication over the break period – the lack of wi-fi where I was staying in Morocco made it impossible.
I came back to the terrible aftermath of the Queensland floods, which you may not realise also exacted its toll on the Queensland Chapter offices located on Merivale Street, South Brisbane.
I visited the premises last Friday and was shocked to see the extent of flood damage – the ground floor was submerged by about a metre, wiping out all of the meeting rooms, kitchen, toilets, and the Archicentre office. Many thanks to Allen Jack & Cottier, who’ve generously provided temporary accommodation to our Archicentre colleagues. Fortunately, Chapter staff have been able to consolidate operations on the premises’ first floor while the ground floor interior is rebuilt over the coming two months.
The immediate post-flood clean-up, and other associated logistical tasks, were undertaken by a fantastic taskforce of volunteer labour headed by Chapter President Peter Skinner and Chapter Manager Judith Gilmore.
The effort expended by this group cannot go unmentioned. They abandoned their much-needed holidays and replaced them with hard, dirty work. Most of the volunteers were architecture students. One fellow was a total stranger. He’d caught a train to Brisbane to help anyone he could,stumbled upon the Chapter clean-up and leant a hand. Typical of the great community spirit that has been evident throughout this crisis.
While at the Chapter, I met with David Kaunitz and David Chesterman from Emergency Architects, and Ingrid Mountford from Archicentre, who’re collaborating with the Queensland Chapter to assist flood affected members of the community – again testimony to the indomitable spirit of concern, friendship and willingness to help that exists in our profession.
We wish the Queensland Chapter – and our many members across Queensland who have been affected both personally and professionally by this natural disaster – well in the coming months. Our thoughts are with them. Again, deep thanks in particular to Judith and Peter.
The remnants of our tenant’s office, Archicentre
Entry Lobby after the heroic cleaning effort by volunteers