Dataset from the detailed survey of vintage unreinforced masonry buildings in the State of Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Due to an identified need to have realistic geometries and boundary conditions of vintage unreinforced masonry (URM) parapets and gable ends, this data collection study was conducted to document prevalent typologies of URM buildings in the Australian State of Queensland. Street surveys were completed in 7 towns and included measurement of the building geometry and the documentation of the other building construction details that were ascertainable using a brief external evaluation.To collect the data, firstly the historical statistical records from Colonial Australia were interrogated to determine regions with the largest potential stocks of vintage URM buildings. It was found that, excluding the Queensland capital (Brisbane), seven other towns existed that had reported significant URM building construction during late 19th century and early 20th century census. These seven towns were selected for street surveys, and Brisbane was excluded due to the lack of sufficient resources. The street survey included take measurable photographs of building facades using a digital laser-based tool. These photographs were used in subsequent desktop study to calculate façade geometries. Additional relevant building information was extracted from Google Map and other sources, enabling an estimate of the roof shape and building plan dimension to be also obtained.This data report includes spreadsheets containing summary of the 363 surveyed building properties and the drawings that were created using the collected data.

Keywords

• Typology
• Ornamental facades
• Colonial buildings
• Parapets
• Vulnerability
• Fragility