Inala, Queensland
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Inala is a diverse working-class suburb of Brisbane with a very Multicultural demographic. During World War 2 Inala was a 60 square kilometre ammunition dump. It was also a housing commission estate with a high number of unemployed people. Over the past five years a much-needed urban renewal scheme has improved the area.
[edit] History
Following World War II there was a shortage of 250,000 houses across Australia. State and Commonwealth Governments responded by making housing a priority. In Queensland alone over 4000 families were living in makeshift dwellings of tin, calico and canvas. Queensland’s Premier, Frank Cooper, signed the Commonwealth and State Housing Agreement in 1945 creating the Queensland Housing Commission. One of the earliest and biggest projects undertaken by the Commission was the detached housing estate in Inala.
The Commission purchased approximately 850 acres (3.4 km²) from the Serviceton Co-operative, a housing society formed by returned ex-serviceman who called their development Serviceton. The Co-operative venture faltered and the housing commission purchased the land in 1949 to 1950. They subsequently added another 200 acres (0.8 km²) to the estate and its name changed to Inala to avoid postal confusion with another Serviceton.
Inala was planned as a satellite town set on a broad high, gently sloping ridge about 18 kilometres from theBrisbane General Post Office. The development of the housing designs for the estate coincided with the emergence of architectural modernism in Australia. The innovative designs of young southern architects such as Robin Boyd, Roy Grounds and Harry Seidler featured the efficient use of space with lack of ornamentation, utilisation of new materials and techniques, low pitched roofs and above all design simplicity.
The worldwide shortage of materials coupled with huge demands created the impetus for exploring and using new materials and techniques in Inala. Reinforced concrete was used in the construction of European houses after the war and this choice was made because of its strength and flexibility rather than for its aesthetic potential.
