How are the lives of Coal Miners remembered through signs and symbols?

The Ipswich and Rosewood Coal Miners memorial is a place of remembrance, designed to honour the dedication of men and boys, and their families. The sacrifices of 186 lives are acknowledged by 186 ‘miner’s lamps’ – stamped across the bronze wall of commemoration. Name, age, location of incident and date of passing are ordered chronologically from left to right to record each tragedy and graphically depict the scale of lives lost at different stages of the coal mining era. The memorial serves as a catalyst for further historical education around the activities, events, and individuals that contributed to the history of the region.

How is mining activity represented in architectural form?

The traditions of mining are depicted in sculptural form as two concrete totems placed at the junction of the fault lines etched into the concrete ground plane. These columns represent the stratigraphic projections produced by the Queensland Government as information to support mining activity in the region. The major column matches the height of the legendary “bluff seam”, the largest in the Ipswich coal fields and the smaller represents the Rosewood fields. This column sits on a plinth of 1200mm; the same height as the smallest of seams mined by hand in the Rosewood fields. Each column has been formed and poured to contain various compositions of concrete and admixtures to represent different formations in the strata. Coal seams are plainly evident and are illuminated at dusk with lighting effects to create a memorable symbol of the local mining industry.

2018 AIA Public Architecture Darling Downs/West Moreton 
Regional Commendation