The Queensland Primary Producers No 4 woolstore which now houses W4 Apartments is most significant in its own right and for its heritage contribution to the Teneriffe precinct. It reflects important developments, technological features and marketing procedures in Queensland's wool industry since the late 1930s as well as the history of commerce along the Brisbane River and of the pastoral companies concerned.
Formerly known as Sturmfels Primary Co-operative Association Ltd, the woolstore was a three-storey brick and timber warehouse which was mostly built during the 1930s. Though developed in three stages, the first and last stage being along the curved frontage, the design was quite cohesive. This was achieved by working around the initial structure which was then pulled down and the interior rebuilt. Constructed largely of variegated reddish toned bricks in a restrained Art Deco style, it implemented the common tripartite division of base, shaft and entablature in its functional form.
One third of the way along from Commercial Road is a slightly projecting mock tower with a small stepped pediment, which in addition to the long window openings and box downpipes, provides a degree of verticality. Nevertheless the overwhelming emphasis is horizontal, mainly due to a series of strikingly rendered bands - wide ones delineating each floor above a row of windows, narrow ones beneath each row, and three narrow bands separating the inscribed company name across the broad stepped parapet. The upper levels are distinguished from the ground floor base line by darker bricks, but more so by the straight awning which shelters the railway siding and loading bays with their steel protective plates and inground tracks.
Whereas stages 1 and 2 use Queensland hardwood for joists and beams, stage 3 employed oregon. The former external double-brick wall delimits stages 1 and 3 on the ground and first floors, while the top showroom floor was one vast expanse with a forest of tubular metal poles. The showroom also had square vents with timber louvers beneath the windows, and the customary sawtooth roof aligned from east to west for optimum lighting. This floor never contained a dining room, as the Primaries No 1 store provided this facility for clients next door. Nevertheless it was equipped with the usual array of bale elevators and wool chutes.
Today much of these details have been retained in Donovan Hill’s marriage between old and new giving rise to W4 Apartments.