Brick facade of Lion factory (1906) elegantly reflects heights of South Australian giant grocer D. & J. Fowler
The D. And J. Fowler's Lion factory on North Terrace, Adelaide, placed on the South Australian state heritage list in 1984, became a live music venue in the 2st Century.
Image courtesy City of Adelaide
The former Lion flour factory from 1906 on North Terrace west, Adelaide city, with its high-quality brick detailing and the well-composed façade, elegantly reflected the business success of David and James Fowler.
The Fowler brothers, from Scotland, started in Adelaide city with a grocery store in 1854. In the 1860s, they moved into wholesaling groceries and importing goods. They shipped goods on to other Australian colonies from Port Adelaide. Next, the Fowlers started manufacturing their own groceries: jams, fruit, pickles, sauces, honey, custard powder, jellies, confectionery etc. By the 1880s, they had offices in London and Fremantle.
The British Journal of Commerce in 1889 noted great reputation of Fowlers' products under well-known Lion trademark as being “accepted throughout the Australian colonies as a synonym for the highest state of excellence and purity in preserved fruits, jams, pickles, sauces, etc.” Varied food imports were balanced by the firm's export of staples such as wool, wheat, wine and copper ore.
By the early 20th Century, D. and J. Fowler was one of Australia's major retail grocers and significant player in South Australian private enterprise Its interests extended to the Adelaide Milling Co. (bought in 1895), Adelaide Bottle Co. (1912), Robur Tea Co. and Walton's Ltd (both bought in 1931).
Frank Counsell was the architect for its new 1906 factory warehouse on North Terrace in Adelaide, an addition to Fowlers’ warehouse at Port Adelaide. Counsell was Adelaide-born but gained work experience with the Victorian Railways department and the public service in Perth. He worked with Adelaide architects Cumming, Davies and Cavanagh and for the South Australian government engineer in chief before starting his own practice in 1903.
The factory’s builders, James King and Son, subcontracted the brickwork to W. Sander and Sons. The original statue of the firm’s lion rampant for the building’s parapet was carved over three months by stonemason John Patrick Jackson. (The original Lion statue was moved by the Fowlers and a copy installed in 1988.) The eastern section of the once-symmetrical factory was demolished in 1966 as part of the widening Morphett Street and constructing new twin bridges across North Terrace and the River Torrens.
The factory was used through the 20th Century until the company was taken over by Southern Farmers Ltd. in 1982-83. It was placed on the South Australian heritage list in 1984.
The vacant factory was revived late in the 20th Century as the Adelaide Fringe festival’s head office and performance spaces, including for live music. From 2000 to 2002, Music House, a South Australian government initiative to create a hub for the music industry, occupied Level 1 of Fowler’s. Fowler’s Live opened in the space in 2004 as a music venue with rock, hardcore and heavy metal styles predominating. The venue lent its name to the Fowler’s Live Music Awards, started in 2012 and running to 2014. In 2015, they were rebranded as the South Australian Music Awards.
