Thomas Pye (architect)


Thomas Pye was an Australian architect. He worked for over 33 years in the Public Works Department in Queensland. Pye contributed significantly to major buildings including the completion of the Public Offices and Rockhampton Customs House, as well as the design for the Lands and Survey Offices. He was responsible for the heightened expectations which produced the best public buildings yet seen in Queensland.

Early life

Thomas Pye was born in 1861 in Lancashire, England to Edward Pye, a farmer, and Ellen Newett. After receiving “an excellent training” as an architect in England, Pye emigrated to the colonies in c.1882. In 1883, Pye married Emily Ruth Ivy in September, while living in Mosman Bay, Sydney. In 1884, Pye moved to Brisbane and joined the Queensland Public Works Department to take charge of the documentation of John James Clark’s design for the Brisbane Public Offices. After completion of the plans for the first stage of the Public Offices, Pye resigned from his public post at the end of May 1885.

Clark and Pye

In 1885, Pye entered partnership with J.J. Clark’s brother George, having previously prepared the drawings for Clark’s Bros’ Brisbane Masonic Hall while employed in the offices of J.J. Clark. He was involved in a number of projects while at the firm, most notably the Imperial Hotel in Brisbane. Clark and Pye ended their partnership in early May 1886.

Public Offices (Treasury Building), Brisbane

In June 1886 Pye rejoined the Works Department to prepare drawings for the Public Offices. Pye is associated with the preparation of the plans for the first and second sections of the Public Offices – those facing William Street and the Queen’s Gardens respectively. This was only a temporary appointment until he was appointed as a permanent draftsman in December 1889. During this time, Pye also engaged work with the tenderer for the project, Sydney contractors the Phippard Bros, in 1886 and 1887. In 1890, the drawings for the Public Offices were completed.

Queensland Public Works Department

In 1892, A.B. Brady, the Engineer for Bridges, took charge of buildings as the Government Architect, and Pye was appointed Chief Draftsman. In 1898, Pye was appointed First Assistant Architect. In February 1902, Pye became District Architect, Southern Division with responsibility for Government buildings south of Gympie. His equivalent for the Northern Division was John Smith Murdoch. In 1904, John Smith Murdoch transferred to the Commonwealth. Consequently, Pye assumed responsibility for the whole of Queensland. In September 1906, Pye was appointed deputy Government Architect and Acting Under Secretary and continued in that office until his retrenchment in August 1921.

Other interests and military involvement

Pye was a military censor for about five months in 1914, and in September 1915, as a lieutenant-colonel, he was detailed to command Australian Imperial Forces reinforcements on transports. He took keen interest in shooting and was a prominent member of local rifle clubs. The lack of success in private practice may conceal a resumption of his previous role as a gun draftsman.

Later life and death

After leaving the Works Department, Pye practiced privately in Brisbane. An amateur artist, he was a member of the Queensland Authors’ and Artists’ Association and was a collector for the Queensland Museum. In May 1929 Pye left Brisbane to travel overseas. In 1930, Pye died after catching black-water fever at the Victoria Falls, South Africa. His daughter, Juanita Pye, was one of Queensland’s first female architects.

Significant works

Responsibility for individual projects during his employment at the Public Works Department is difficult to discern. The Lands and Survey Offices are considered Pye’s masterpiece. The significant stylistic and technical innovations used in the design of the Lands Offices such as the use of concrete and the Edwardian Baroque style make them almost a decade ahead of comparable Australian buildings. Pye personally supervised the details, including the statuary.
Year completedStructure nameLocationNotes
1885Villa and Stable for W. Pickering ; Lytton Road, East Brisbane
1885Cottage ; Remy Street, Petrie Bight
1885-1887Imperial Hotel 70 George Street, Brisbane
1889Relief Stonework Panels, Alice Street Wing, Parliament House69 Alice Street, Brisbane
1897-1898Post Office, 98 Palmerin Street, Warwick
1898Department of Primary Industries Building William Street facade99 William Street, Brisbane
1898-1899Queensland Stock Institute College Road,
1899Customs House Rockhampton 208 Quay Street, Rockhampton
1899-1900East Brisbane State School90 Wellington Road, East Brisbane
1899-1900Post Office, 114 Brisbane Street, Ipswich
1900Police Station, Warwick86 Fitzroy Street, Warwick
?1901Killarney Courthouse;
1901Naval Offices3 Edward St, Brisbane
1901Decoration of Government Buildings in Brisbane
Primarily George, Queen and William Streets, Brisbane
1901Stanthorpe Post Office14 Maryland St,
1901-1905Land Administration Building 142 George Street, Brisbane
1904Former North Ward Defence Complex additions 4-6 Oxley Street,
1905Woolloongabba Post Office 765 Stanley Street,
?1906-1921
date unknown		“Tekowai” House for W.G. Chancellor; Vulture Street, South Brisbane
1908Brisbane General Post Office, Elizabeth Street additions280 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane
1909Former Dispenser’s House, Diamantina HospitalCornwall Street, Woolloongabba
1910Charters Towers Police Station 49 Gill Street, Charters Towers
1910School Of Musketry 431 Lloyd St, Gallipoli Army Barracks,
1910Small Arms Magazine Murray Av, Enoggera Barracks, Enoggera
1911-1912Mackay Technical College Alfred Street,
1911-1915Brisbane Central Technical College 2 George Street, Brisbane
1911-1915Enoggera Magazine ComplexInwood Rd, Enoggera Military Camp, Enoggera
1913Remount Complex Wynter Rd, Enoggera
1914Wooloowin State School663 Lutwyche Road,
1914‘A’ Block Central Queensland Institute of Technical and Further Education Rockhampton Campus
Bolsover Street, Rockhampton
1914-1915Warwick Technical College and State High SchoolVictoria Street, Warwick
1914-1915Windsor State School270 Lutwyche Rd,
1915-1916Block ‘C’, Rockhampton District Court 42 East Street, Rockhampton
1916-1917Toowoomba Technical College 124 Margaret Street, Toowoomba
1919‘D’ Block, Rockhampton State High School and Technical College; Alma Street, Rockhampton
1919-1921Cairns Court House 38-40 Abbott St, Cairns
1925Enoggera Memorial Hall and School of ArtsCnr Trundle and Wardell Streets, Enoggera