BUILT PERTH DISCOVERING PERTH’S ICONIC ARCHITECTURE TOM MCKENDRICK AND ELLIOT LANGDON CONTENTS Introduction 3 St George’s Cathedral 60 CIVIC HOSPITALITY Western Australian Museum 4 Yagan Square 62 City of Perth Library 6 Royal George Hotel 64 Perth Town Hall 8 Indiana Cottesloe 66 Parliament House 10 Former Titles Office 68 The Bell Tower 12 Old Treasury Buildings 70 Barracks Arch 14 OFFICE City Beach Surf Club 16 QV1 72 Fremantle Prison 18 Allendale Square 74 Perth GPO 20 Former David Foulkes Government House 22 Taylor Showroom 76 Council House 24 Palace Hotel and Criterion Hotel 26 108 St Georges Terrace 78 Fremantle Arts Centre 28 London Court 80 Perth Children’s Hospital 30 Gledden Building 82 Fremantle Town Hall 32 Supreme Court of Western SELECTED HOUSING STYLES 84 Australia 34 RESIDENTIAL Fremantle Ports Administration Mount Eliza Apartments 86 Building 36 Paganin House 88 BRIDGE STYLES 38 32 Henry Street Apartments 90 EDUCATION Warders’ Cottages 92 Victoria Avenue House 94 West Australian Ballet Heirloom by Match 96 Company Centre 40 Blue Waters 98 Winthrop Hall 42 Soda Apartments 100 St George’s College 44 Cloister House 102 ENTERTAINMENT Chisholm House 104 Regal Theatre 46 INDUSTRIAL His Majesty’s Theatre 48 ‘Dingo’ Flour Mill 106 Perth Stadium 50 Perth Concert Hall 52 Glossary 108 Perth Arena 54 Acknowledgements 110 State Theatre Centre of About the authors 110 Western Australia 56 Index 111 SPIRITUAL Cadogan Song School 58 INTRODUCTION In the relatively short space of time in Perth, the book is a gentle tap on can only serve as a guide because since the Swan River Colony was the shoulder, a finger which points many of the records are incomplete established, Perth has transformed upwards and provides a reminder of or not public information. from a group of tents into a thriving the great buildings which surround To produce a ‘Top 50’ of the best and diverse city. Architecturally, it has us, in a city whose architecture has buildings on offer in Perth is a near faced the challenge of breaking free often faced criticism, but which is now impossible task, and in Built: Perth from the early British-inspired colonial pushing forward and turning heads in we do not seek to accomplish any works and developing an identity of the world of design. such goal; rather it is a showcase of its own, specific to the city’s unique On the following pages, you’ll find the vast array of exciting architecture climate and location. Today, Perth plays 50 of what we believe to be the city’s within the coastal city. Whittling host to many exceptional architects most iconic works of architecture, the selection down to 50 worthy and architectural studios, delivering each one represented in the form buildings to research and illustrate nationally and internationally of a lovingly crafted illustration. The turned out to be a harder task than acclaimed buildings. The city also accompanying text provides key first imagined – we felt spoiled for boasts a high number of important insight into the buildings’ histories, choice. Firstly, our selection was based heritage works, and though many of uncovering some of the lesser known loosely on the International Council these older buildings have been lost secrets of the structures of Perth, the on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) over the years, the state’s Heritage clients who commissioned them, the Burra Charter for determining Council has worked hard to provide architects who designed them and cultural significance, being that each protection for those that remain. the various obstacles and triumphs building must have aesthetic, historic, Built: Perth is a celebration of they faced along the way. For each scientific, social or spiritual value for architecture in Perth, both new and entry, we have included details of the past or present generations. Secondly, old, parading the city’s most prized designers, clients, completion dates, we wanted to capture a variety of architectural works and showing costs and styles of the buildings architecture, in terms of buildings’ the exciting direction the built where they are known. Especially with use, style and age. Lastly, we chose environment is taking. For those the older buildings, many additions architecture that we love and felt visiting the city, it provides a selection and significant restorations have excited to write about, illustrate and of noteworthy buildings, from Perth’s been done over the years, so this share with you. We believe that all humble beginnings in convict-built information reflects only the original are important and have earned their structures, through to innovative or most significant contributions. The place on the pages of Built: Perth. modern-day designs. For those living costs are as accurate as possible, but 3 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM PERTH CULTURAL CENTRE, NORTHBRIDGE Built in 1856 and originally fronting previous location. The Victoria Library Beaufort Street, the diminutive form lay to the west of the Jubilee building of the Old Perth Courthouse and until its demolition in 1985 and a Gaol set a precedent for its future gallery, designed by John Grainger BEAUFORT STREET neighbours, which would also and Hillson Beasley, provided a new be shaped by some of the state’s frontage to Beaufort Street. While most renowned names and push the new gallery followed an aligned architectural boundaries of their time. material palette, Poole was critical of Richard Roach Jewell designed the both buildings for their deviation in WESTERN AUSTRALIAN limestone jail to show a level of detail style from his original work. Beasley’s MUSEUM and sensitivity not previously seen later design of Hackett Hall in 1913 in colonial architecture, given the shares many of the characteristics basic materials available. After serving of the Jubilee building; though due its purpose of housing convicts, to a falling out between the two the building was established as a architects, it was built deliberately off- ARCHITECT George Temple Poole (Jubilee geological museum in 1891, before centre and short of Poole’s work. The building); HASSELL and OMA being renamed as the Perth Museum gap was filled in 1999 with a modern (new addition) the following year. steel and glass foyer. The prosperity of the gold rush Running in the theme of architectural CLIENT prompted a design to be drawn up all-stars, Perth now welcomes in the Government of Western for the first dedicated building to $395.9 million museum addition, Australia house the state’s library, art gallery a collaboration involving world- YEAR OF COMPLETION and museum. Famed architect renowned architecture firms OMA and 1897; 2020 (est.) George Temple Poole was to design HASSELL. The enormous development, COST the scheme, originally envisioning floating around and above the existing Unknown; $395.9 million (est.) the building to run the full length buildings, unites the site’s current of the block. Unfortunately, the only heritage works and increases the STYLE portion of his design to ever come to current museum size fourfold. The Federation Romanesque; fruition is the Jubilee building on the bold design seeks to further ignite the Twenty-first Century Postmodernist WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM corner of James and Beaufort streets. already thriving Perth Cultural Centre, The following years saw new homes with expansive internal galleries to built for both the art gallery and the provide a fitting home for the state’s PERTH CULTURAL CENTRE, NORTHBRIDGE library, located in and around their treasures. CIVIC 5 CITY OF PERTH LIBRARY 573 HAY STREET, PERTH HAY STREET CITY OF PERTH LIBRARY The first civic building to be con- might have been used to build the ARCHITECT structed by the City of Perth since library a century earlier. The entrance Kerry Hill Architects the Perth Concert Hall in 1973, the foyer and interior are covered in CLIENT City of Perth Library was awarded the Australian timbers – blackbutt, City of Perth coveted George Temple Poole Award southern blue gum, spotted gum and in 2016 alongside the neighbouring Victorian ash – all of which create an YEAR OF COMPLETION State Buildings. interior that is warm and comforting. 2016 The outcome of a national compe- The sensation of standing inside the COST tition, the design of the library library is truly unique: 360 degrees of $60 million complements the composition of natural light bathes the timber-laden STYLE the heritage buildings that make up circular atrium, at the top of which Twenty-first Century Organic/ the Cathedral Square precinct and lies the mural Delight and Hurt Not by Contemporary balances them visually. There is a local artist Andrew Nicholls, depicting certain poetry in the juxtaposition of the final scene of Shakespeare’s The the chamfered cylindrical library, the Tempest. The fairytale at the city’s ornate rectilinear Treasury buildings, ‘lounge room’ is topped off by ‘the the pointed facades of the cruciform tree of knowledge’, a large, live of St George’s Cathedral, and the weeping fig on its top floor. With perfectly manicured landscape that 360 degrees of windows offering separates them, as if the area had priceless views of the nearby heritage been arranged by Kandinsky himself. buildings to settle next to, the library CITY OF PERTH LIBRARY The four kilometres of vertical granite- is an achievement in creating an clad ‘cassettes’ that make up the invaluable sense of community within facade are a superbly contemporary an urban setting. 573 HAY STREET, PERTH application of an ancient material that CIVIC 7 PERTH TOWN HALL CORNER HAY STREET AND BARRACK STREET, PERTH HAY STREET PERTH TOWN HALL With a 38-metre fairytale tower, the wealthy, clock towers were critical to ARCHITECT Perth Town Hall was built on the prosperous towns and traditionally Richard Roach Jewell with highest point in the centre of town, placed in the north-west corner of the James Manning on the approximate location that the building with faces in the directions CLIENT first tree was felled nearly 50 years of the compass to help travellers British War and Colonial prior to mark the foundation of the orient themselves.