THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE 
ON OUR DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. 
1 
FAPEB BEAD BY MB. W. COOTE, AT THE MONTHLY MEETING OF THE QUEENSLAND PHILOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY, AT BRISBANE, NOVEMBER 4lH, 1862. 
I DO not know why so little attention is paid 
in these colonies to the influence which climate 
should exert in modifying the architectural 
styles we import from the old world. We alter 
our dress to suit the requirements of the season, 
varying it in material, and often in shape, to 
suit the exigencies imposed by a burning sun. 
But in building our houses, and modelling our 
public buildings, we seem to adopt as a primary 
question the motto which I remember to have 
seen on a pointed design for a club-house by an 
eminent modern architect — “ Why work we not 
as our forefathers wrought,” and we adopt it 
with reference merely to the manner of their 
working, and not to the spirit by which they 
were guided. There is thus seldom anything 
racy of the soil in the artistic spirit we display 
— even in our most imposing structures. As 
to the dwellings in which we live, it is surely no 
libel to say that in nine cases out of ten taste 
and comfort are equally set at defiance. Yet 
the home in which the greater part of our exis- 
tence is spent would repay the attention paid to 
rendering it pleasant as well as convenient. If 
anyone doubts this who is accustomed to the 
mere pleasures of cleanliness and space, let him 
ask what his sensations would be if suddenly 
transferred to a low dark wooden shanty such 
as in too many, if not in most, instances form 
the covering places of our working population. 
The truth is that there is a gradation of feeling in 
these matters. He who is accustomed to the 
highest species of enjoyment is restless until it 
is attained. The man who can get nothing but 
dirt and darkness becomes gradually habituated 
to them as part of the conditions of existence. 
He can be none the better for this species of 
training, the probability is that he may be worse. 
If there is degradation in such a progress we 
may fairly enough infer that the opposite direc- 
tion tends to elevation. And the history of 
civilisation enforces the inference. It may there- 
fore be useful, and in accordance with the 
objects of this society, if we attempt the inquiry, 
what influence climatic considerations should 
have on the arrangement and style of our 
domestic habitations. 
In a cold country there is danger in very 
large rooms unless adequately warmed and ven- 
tilated ; in a hot one the larger they are the 
better, always supposing the light not to be too 
strong, and that due precaution be taken to 
keep the direct rays of the sun from the walls 
and ceilings of the apartment. Wherever these 
two essentials are neglected, the requirements of 
the climate are neglected, and proportionate dis- 
comfort will follow. Hence it follows that with 
us space and shade are primary considerations. 
Again in a cold country the exclusion of 
the external atmosphere is a matter of the 
greatest necessity. With us, its ready access, 
without draughts, is equally essential, protection 
from the sun being secured. Such a condition 
points to roomy and broad verandahs, which 
in classic structures become stately colonnades. 
The ventilation question is one of comparative 
ease under such conditions. A house properly 
arranged with regard to these main principles 
will require few aids in that respect. 
If we examine the favourite styles adopted at 
home for house architecture, we shall, I believe, 
find that where structures of moderate size are 
to be built, either a modification of the domestic 
Gtothic or Elizabethan is employed, or a 
