'It was so dangerous': Building in Brisbane's steepest street

Builder Kirk Hawkins and his staff and subcontractors risked life and limb by building in Brisbane’s steepest street.

The steep incline in Gower Street, Toowong, threatened to tip over just about every delivery and concrete truck.

“They couldn’t even back in, they nearly tipped over,” Mr Hawkins said. “We had a few tow trucks come in, tow them up.”

“After a while the concrete trucks refused to back up because it was so dangerous.”

What would happen if one of the trucks tipped was almost unthinkable.

“I don’t really want to think about it, it’d be messy,” Mr Hawkins said.

Eventually the risk became too great, and Hawkins & Co settled on some interim solutions.

“Pretty much every delivery was a challenge, so eventually we ended up pumping concrete up from Stanley Terrace; about 60 metres,” the builder said.

Gower Street is, according to Brisbane City Council engineers, Brisbane’s steepest street. With a slope of 31 per cent at an angle of 17.4 degrees, it has a number of long-term residents who have a sense of pride about their place in Brisbane’s record books.

Before Mr Hawkins and his team could even think about getting started on the bones of the house, a lot of work went into making sure the block was level.

“It was over 4000 core filled blocks; on a flat block you might not use any,” he said. “To retain a back garden you might use 300 or so.”

Mr Hawkins said it was well worth it, because once you step onto the block of land, you forget all about the 31 per cent slope.

“The intention from the start was to make sure the hill was taken out of it, so you don’t even think about it,” he said.

Building a house on one of the steepest hills in Brisbane was something of a challenge for experienced builder. “You had to look it like that, it wasn’t gonna be your standard build this one.”

Although a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into building the home, Mr Hawkins said selling the home was as much of a challenge as building it.

After a four week auction campaign and then another two weeks on the market afterwards, the house sold for $1.675 million, according to PriceFinder.

Dixon Family‘s Jack Dixon was the selling agent; he said the 180 degree views of the city and Mount Coot-tha helped him across the line.

“Obviously I try to focus on the positives on what the street offers,” he said. “If you want the views, you don’t often get that unless you’re on a street like that.”

The attention to detail in the construction was another selling point.

“People really respond to high quality craftsmanship and design,” Mr Dixon said. “This is an example of a high quality contemporary home.”

The home has been nominated for the sloping build category in the Master Builders awards.