Pan Australian Centre, 127 Charlotte Street, Brisbane

The building for Behr Lewin was erected on land originally purchased by James Gibbon in 1855. It was sold four times during Brisbane’s 1880s land boom. The land remained vacant until purchase by Behr Raphael Lewin in 1888 who built the building that became known as Pan Australian House. It was leased for a seven-year period from February 1889 to Adolphus Marcus Hertzberg, Charles Samuel Van Millingen, Abraham Hertzberg and Benjamin Cohen who were merchants and importers. Such construction in Charlotte Street reflects the predominant use of land in this area originally known as ‘Frogs Hollow’, which was roughly bounded by Alice, George, Elizabeth and Edward Streets. Until the late nineteenth century, the area was prone to flooding and possessed a dubious reputation due to the presence of brothels and opium dens. The area was also characterised by residences, boarding houses, hotels, the Chinese Quarter and light industry. From the 1880s onward, however, the area came to be increasingly dominated by warehouses and light industry. This was encouraged by the area’s proximity to the city’s busy wharves located on the Town Reach of the river. The construction of the building in Charlotte Street reflects this broader trend, which is an important aspect of the development of Brisbane’s Central Business District (CBD). John Jacob Cohen was an architect and engineer who practised as an architect in Brisbane from 1885 until 1892. While in partnership with F. F. Holmes he is credited with designing the Bellevue Hotel and the residences Maryview, Albion and Roseville, Teneriffe. While practising on his own from 1886 he also designed S. Hoffnung and Co’s warehouse in Charlotte Street, Brisbane, the Theatre Royal hotel in Elizabeth Street, and Cameron Brother’s tobacco factory on the corner of Brunswick and Martin Streets, New Farm. He also undertook large residential and swamp reclamation works in Booroodabin Division. Hertzberg, Millingen and Co. operated from this building until circa 1932. The building is listed as vacant in the Queensland Post Office Directories of 1933 and 1934. In 1935 ownership of the building was transferred to the Date of Citation — June 2006 Page 4 Commercial Investments (Queensland) Ltd which retained ownership until 1988. During this period the building was leased to several businesses including Commercial Investments (Qld) Ltd which occupied part of the building and accountant Owen Kenny took offices on the second floor from this time onwards. From 1936 Cowan and Sons Ltd (manufacturing stationers and paper merchants) operated from the building. The 1951 Brisbane Fire Map identifies the building as Cowan House, and from 1956 the whole of 120 Charlotte Street was leased to Alex Cowan (Australia) Pty Ltd for six years. In 1964 J. Leutenegger Pty Ltd leased the first floor of Cowan House for five years. Part of the ground floor was leased to Pan Australian Credits (Qld) Ltd from 1963 for five years. In 1988 Kern Corporation purchased the property and the building was removed, leaving only the façade. Pan Australian House was a four-storey masonry building with a rusticated sandstone half basement. The ornate façade that remains comprises four pilasters with highly decorative capitals forming three bays. The window decoration and form of the windows on each storey are different. Additionally the windows of the central bay are Venetian while those of the side bays on the second and fourth floor facades have pediments. The parapet has pediment and skyline decoration. The facade whilst still there is now part of the Oaks hotel next door.