Welcome to the second instalment of 'UQ by design', a 12-part Contact series celebrating the beauty and abundance of UQ's cultural assets. Join us each month as we take you on a virtual guided tour across UQ's three campuses, providing a brief overview of the pieces and where you can find them. This month, we take a look at our fabulous fountains, and learn more about how they actually work.

Some UQ assets display different aspects at different times, like the many fountains at UQ St Lucia that ‘spontaneously’ come to life via set timers.

Possibly the best-known of these landmarks is the Lake Fountain. Fed by stormwater channelled into the lake, the structure was designed by University Architect Kelvin Crump around 50 years ago and installed using funds donated by Black and White Bus company proprietors Victor and Evelyn Lewis. Professor Gordon Mackay from the Department of Mechanical Engineering supervised the fountain’s construction, ensuring that his staff built the copper-covered fibreglass structure in both a technically and aesthetically correct manner to “reproduce the pleasing pattern of old jetty pylons with random height tubes”¹. The original structure was replaced in 2012 by an identical one made from stainless steel.

According to UQ renewables engineer Sarah Haskmann, during normal operation, the flow of the Lake Fountain is constantly fluctuating, responding to UQ’s engagement as a participant in the National Electricity Market due to the construction and operation of the Warwick Solar Farm.

“The Lake Fountain is powered by a very large pump and electric motor combination, which is remote-controlled via a variable speed drive and control system that monitors the wholesale electricity price,” she said.

“What this means is that if the price for electricity is too high (beyond the desired threshold), the fountain is ramped down really low to save power and therefore cost. But when the price drops, the fountain ramps back up.

“The fountain may also turn off completely if the lake’s water levels are too low (from lack of rain) or if the lake has been affected by algae. This is because a lot of solid matter gets sucked into the pump, which can clog the mechanism and cause damage. However, the ‘smart’ variable speed drive connected to the electric motor detects any restricted flow and automatically shuts off the motor to protect the pump.”

In times of drought and low water supply, other fountains across the campuses also do not always share their true glory, remaining dry in the wake of water restrictions. Nevertheless, their sculptural impact offsets this.

Click on the photos below to reveal the full image

For example, the 1972 Fred Schonell Memorial Fountain, located near Central Library, is an arresting design of large upright figures in copper, topped with petal-like forms, and was created by sculptor Inge King (1918–2016) in 1973 to pay homage to influential educationalist and UQ Vice-Chancellor from 1960 until 1969, Sir Fred Schonell. 

The bronze Hancock Memorial Fountain, located in the courtyard between the Richards, Parnell and Physics Annexe buildings, is another striking sculptural design paying tribute to a benefactor. As Managing Director of Hancock Brothers at Ipswich, Mr VE Hancock was well known for his generosity to educational institutions, funding the building of Cromwell College at UQ. His memorial, installed in 1976, comprises amalgamated rectangular-shaped tubes of different sizes and was designed to work like organ pipes with the water producing different sounds when passing through the tubes.

The Weis Fountain, also known as the Women’s Fountain, can be found adjacent to the Steele building near Merlo Coffee. Commissioned in 1965 to commemorate the 15th conference of the International Federation of University Women (now Graduate Women International), which was held at UQ that year, it was designed by a member of the Architecture Department and features a pool with a central bronze dish that was cast by Walkers Foundry in Maryborough. Installed in 1969, it has often been suds-pranked, resulting in a much ‘cleaner’ cement-lined interior than would normally be expected. When empty some years ago, it became the temporary site for an ‘art’ installation of the thousands of cigarette butts that had been found within a few metres of the structure.

The Brick Fountain, created in 1970 by renowned Brisbane architect James Birrell (1929–2019), who was responsible for the design of several significant buildings at UQ, is a concave, light-coloured brick construction that is no longer operational as a fountain. Approximately two metres in diameter, Birrell placed it as a detail outside the Hartley Teakle building, “a linear building that follows the site contours to embrace the landscape”. As well as the central fountain, the rolling landscape of the adjacent courtyard with its undulating plan features sumps that follow the pathways around the building, marking out entrances and places of rest.

The Brick Fountain is complemented by the Brick Folly, also created by James Birrell, but in 2006 as part of the Turrbal-Jagera Art Project, curated by David Pestorius Projects. A two-metre-wide, convex, dark-coloured brick construction, it was never designed as a fountain, nor is it located outside the Hartley Teakle building. It can be found near the lake next to Building 41.

¹ From Impressions of the University of Queensland (1982) by Christopher McVinish and Susan Pechey.

Be sure to check back in next month, as Contact looks at UQ's bull-themed art.

Words and concept: Suzanne Parker
Artwork and design: James North
Photography: Anjanette Webb

All artworks and artefacts mentioned in this series are located on UQ's St Lucia, Gatton and Herston campuses, and we acknowledge the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands on which the University stands. We pay our respects to their Ancestors and their descendants, who continue cultural and spiritual connections to Country. We recognise their valuable contributions to Australian and global society.