DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY 16 JUNE 2020 ATTACHMENT 1 OF 3 TO ITEM DV20.69 CITY BEACH P9108 – STATE REGISTER OF HERITAGE PLACES CONSIDERATIONS HERITAGE COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LETTER Working with Western Australians to recognise, conserve, adapt and celebrate our State's unique cultural heritage 19 January 2018 YOUR REF OUR REF P25920 [P9108] ENQUIRIES Moss Wilson/6551 8002 Mr Jason Buckley _...~.~ , ......" 1\1A 'JA'-",'1 ,,,..., Chief Executive Officer D,:;,CUMrN Town of Cambridge 2 3 JAN LJ J PO Box 15 FLOREAT WA 6014 DOC SET ID Dear Mr Buckley Heritage Nomination P25920 South City Beach and Floreat Beach Kiosks and Toodyay Stone Sea Wall P9108 City Beach The Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage recently received a nomination for P25920 South City Beach and Floreat Beach Kiosks and Toodyay Stone Sea Wall to be considered for possible inclusion in the State Register, under the provisions of the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990. The Register celebrates and recognises places of cultural heritage significance that are important in telling the story of Western Australia's people, history and development. A preliminary review of South City Beach and Floreat Beach Kiosks and Toodyay Stone Sea Wall was considered by the Heritage Council's Register Committee at their meeting on 8 December 2017. After careful consideration the Committee determined that while the place may have some cultural heritage value, it is unlikely that it would meet the threshold for entry on the State Register of Heritage Places, and therefore does not warrant a full assessment. If further information becomes available in the future, the Register Committee may reconsider this decision. A copy of the preliminary review is enclosed for your information. However, whilst considering the above nomination, the Committee determined that P91 08 City Beach is likely to have cultural heritage significance at a state level and as such, it has been added to the Heritage Council's assessment program. A copy of the preliminary review for City Beach is also enclosed for your information. We will notify you when an assessment of the cultural heritage significance of P9108 City Beach will be undertaken. Please note that it may take some time for the assessment to be scheduled. stateheritage.wa.gov.au [email protected] We note that P91 08 City Beach is included in your Local Government Heritage Inventory but that that there is as yet no clear mapped boundary for the place. The boundary considered by the Register Committee is shown in the attached map. This remains provisional until an assessment is undertaken. In the meantime, we would appreciate any other information you may have about P91 08 City Beach, as well as your views regarding its cultural heritage significance and possible registration. We would also appreciate receiving advice as to whether there are any current development approvals or pending applications over the place, and of any applications that you receive in the future. If you would like further advice or would like to provide information to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (Heritage Services), please contact Senior Heritage Officer Moss Wilson on (08)6551 8002. Yours sincerely __1_-- =-~ Prof John Stephens AlChair Register Committee Ene. ~. Nomination of New Place for Assessment HCWA# P25920 I Place Name South City Beach and Floreat Beach Kiosk & Toodyay Stone Sea Wall Other name(s) Location City Beach Owner State Government of Western Australia Local Government Town of Cambridge MI Listing Part of P9108 City Beach; included on Town of Cambridge MI as Category 5 (lowest level - interpret site) Heritage List OTHER LISTINGS/REFERENCES I Nil. VALUES I . the place has been a significant recreation venue for West Australians and representative of post-war 'beach culture' . the place includes a rare example of commercial structures showing Late Twentieth Century Brutalist and Late Twentieth Century architectural styles . the place is a demonstration of the 'Garden City' planning concepts as applied to a natural recreational setting . the place is associated with Perth City Planner Paul Ritter and Western Australian architect Tony Brand PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Dates of Construction 1968-1970 Architectural Style Late 20th Century BrutalistlLate 20th Century Organic Original Use Seawall, Refreshment Kiosk Current Use Seawall, vacant Description South City Beach and Floreat Beach Kiosk & Toodyay Stone Sea Wall is part of a shoreline landscape along Challenger Parade that was part of a redevelopment of two popular swimming beaches (City Beach and Floreat Beach) in 1968-1970, impacted by later developments. The extant features from this redevelopment includes two concrete kiosks, one at South City Beach the other at Floreat Beach. The kiosks themselves are small structures with multiple service windows and a flat roof with a dramatically inverted inner slope. The walls of the place feature a corrugated pattern, created from the corrugated iron form work used during construction. Overall, the structure has a gentlv curved shape desiqned to be Report Created: October 2017 Report Amended: Reg Com Decision: 'I. responsive to the undulating curves of the sand dunes and waves, and takes its inspiration from an inverted sea shell.1 The style of the structures resembled the Late Twentieth Century Brutalist style of architecture in the use of off-form reinforced concrete emphasising strong lines and dramatically moulded shapes. However, the curved composition of the building as a response to the natural curves of the shoreline and sea shells shows an influence from the Late Twentieth Century Organic style. The northern kiosk at Floreat Beach has had later additions in the form of shade panels, and has been partially incorporated into the surrounding developments. The southern kiosk at City Beach has undergone minimal redevelopment. The other remaining feature from this period is a series of seawalls composed of Toodyay stone, ranging from 1 m to 2 m high slightly battered and capped with concrete. The walls again have an undulating shape, originally extending the length of City Beach but now existing as three separate sections. DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE I City Beach and Floreat Beach were both popular beach destinations since the 1920s, and had undergone various developments and redevelopments during this period. By the 1960s, the City Beach area in particular was transforming into a residential suburb, and while plans to redevelop the beach along 'Garden City' designs had existed since 1938, the impact of the World War II deferred such plans.2 However in 1970 a new redevelopment of City Beach and Floreat Beach occurred through the work of planner and councillor Paul Ritter. Ritter was a controversial figure in Perth's recent history. Born in Prague in 1926, he emigrated to Perth in 1964 as one of the City's first planners in the newly-created Perth Department of Planning. An advocate of the separation of traffic and pedestrian spaces, his passion and innovative ideas were not universally accepted and he was sacked in 1967. However, Ritter returned in 1968 as a Perth City Councillor and member of the Town Planning Committee.3 In 1967 Ritter developed a new plan for both Floreat Beach and City Beach, which involved the creation of new car parking and service areas, as well as a new City of Perth Surf Life Saving Club building, and finally an undulating Toodyay stone seawall that created a separation between beach and grassed foreshore. The seawall had originally been envisioned as a straight concrete wall, however under Ritter's influence the design as modified to a naturally undulating wall composed of a local stone that was sympathetic to the local colours and textures. Construction of the new walls and buildings began in 1968 and the redevelopment was completed by 1970.4 In addition to the new Surf Club building, four kiosks/changerooms were envisioned to provide services to patrons of both Floreat Beach and City Beach. These structures were not designed by Ritter but by architect Tony Brand, working for the firm Forbes & Fitzhardinqe.5 The design of the new Surf Club building and the kiosks was in the Late Information provided by the nominator; G London, A Shan History of Penh Architecture, Pesaro Publishing, 2002, p. 99; 'South City Beach Kiosk', DesigninWA, accessed 9 October 2017, https://designinwa.com/architecture/city-beach-kiosk 2 The West Australian, 28 July 1938, p. 18; The West Australian, 5 July 1939, p. 17 see also illustrations in each article; The West Australian, 21 January 1941, p. 11 3 'Paul Ritter', Wikipedia, accessed 9 October 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul Ritter 4 Information provided by the nominator 5 Information provided by the nominator; G London, A Shon History of Penh Architecture, Pesaro Publishing, 2002, p. 99 Report Created: October 2017 Report Amended: Reg Com Decision: ,JI' Twentieth Century Brutalist and Late Twentieth Century Organic styles, consisting of strong lines punctuated by bold slopes or curves and composed in plain concrete.6 The redevelopment included three kiosk structures at City Beach, one of which was incorporated into the Surf Club building, with a fourth kiosk at Floreat Beach to the north.7 Historic aerial imagery of the area between 1974 and shows 1995 shows little change after these new structures were established, with development of City Beach remaining stable during this period. At Floreat Beach to the north, earlier inter-war structures were demolished by 1974 and in 1981 new service buildings were created immediately north of the 1970 kiosk.8 However, redevelopment of City Beach occurred again at a point between 1995 and 2001, when one of the four kiosks and a section of Toodyay stone seawall was removed to create a new two-storey restaurant. In 2015, the c.1970 Surf Club building, attached kiosk and a further section of Toodyay stone wall were removed to make way for a new complex of buildings including a new Surf Lifesaving Club structure and another restaurant.