Inside the old Treasury Building in Perth
Sunday, November 15th, 2009Today was Heritage Day in Perth – an event put on by Heritage Perth to promote the city’s history. There were 30 different free activities happening around the CBD, one of which was a guided tour through the old Treasury buildings at the corner of Barrack St & St Georges Terrace. These buildings were built in 1874 and were used by the State Government until 1996. Since then, the interior has fallen into a state of disrepair while the Government work with private contractors on a possible use for the precinct.
The Heritage Council of Western Australia’s assessment of the site makes reference to the significance of the Treasury Building, or as it was also known – the Central Government Offices:
- it is the largest substantially intact complex of its type built in its time in Australia;
- the place is a key part of the heritage precinct of commercial, civic and ecclesiastical buildings extending from Hay Street to the Swan River’s edge;
- the place is a major work by two of the State’s most notable government architects, Richard R. Jewell and George T. Poole;
- the progressive development of the building complex demonstrates the developing role of government administration during the major period of Colonial expansion, it is also representative of the Colony’s passage to full statehood within the Commonwealth of Australia;
- despite successive campaigns and having many later additions, the place retains cohesion through its use of the Victorian Georgian, Victorian Second Empire and Federation Free Classical styles and through the use of a palette of materials that was set by the construction of Jewell’s Perth Town Hall;
- the place has been a symbol of Government and a place where numerous significant public figures performed their work;
- the place has been associated with Government activities since the foundation of the Colony;
- the development of the place demonstrates the history of regional operations, changes in administration systems and changes in economic circumstances in Western Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century;
- the place is a key element of the Cathedral Precinct which is a Perth landmark;
- the buildings make a major contribution to the streetscape quality of two major and two minor City of Perth streets;
- the interior of the main GPO entry lobby and of the postal hall are considerably significant, together with the vestibule and stairs of the Titles Office, the infill of the eastern courtyard and the lantern light over the postal hall is also of great importance, the basements under most areas of the buildings are of great importance and especially those under the Titles Office with their fireproof construction, those under the Treasury building are also important for their use of the sprung corrugated iron lost formwork construction technique, the use of cavity wall construction is believed to be one of the earliest applications in Western Australia and the in-cavity ventilation systems, use of damp proof courses and hydraulic lifts are also of technical interest;
- the place was the first major Government office complex and was one in which it was intended to house all Government departments and no other attempt has since been made to draw together Government services in this manner;
- the building complex was remarkable for having been intended to accommodate all Government departments;
- the place is associated with the group of places comprising the Perth Town Hall, McNess Royal Arcade, St. George’s Cathedral, Burt Memorial Hall, the Deanery and St. Andrew’s Church, Stirling Gardens, the Old Courthouse, Supreme Court and Supreme Court Gardens, Council House and Government House and the Weld Club which collectively connect West Australians with their past and contribute to their sense of place;
- Jewell’s work on the place, the Perth Town Hall, the Deanery, Government House, Perth Gaol and the Colonial hospital are considered to have an important influence on the aesthetic qualities of the City of Perth; and,
- the buildings designed by Poole are fine examples of the use of mannered classicism using the Victorian Second Empire Style, which was a comparatively rare choice of style for public architecture, and the Federation Free Classical Style.
I felt rather privileged to have had the opportunity to walk through this Perth landmark before the developers get their hands on it. See the photos by clicking here >>>>>> (more…)
