Perth Girls' School building to be permanently listed on heritage register

12/3/95

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis announced today that the historic Perth Girls' School building in East Perth had been listed permanently on the State Register of Heritage Places.

The building, on the corner of Wellington and Plain Streets, is currently occupied by the Perth Traffic Branch of the Western Australian Police Service.

The Minister said the listing by the Heritage Council of WA recognised the significant role the building had played in the State's history.

"The listing gives the building the full protection of the Heritage of Western Australia Act," he said.

Mr Lewis said the State's education system faced many difficulties in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

"Overcrowding in central city schools prompted a call for the construction of a school in East Perth but, due to the Depression, funding was scarce," he said.

"In 1936 the Perth Girls' School was built and established as an independent girls' school with an emphasis on domestic science."

Three years later the building won the Royal Institute of British Architects Award for design excellence and architectural merit.

Mr Lewis said the building boasted some of the latest technology available at that time, including electronic clocks and a master broadcast radio receiving set linking each room.

"The school was designed to take up to 500 students, but enrolments fell in the late 1950s, with the development of community-based schools, and in the early 1960s Perth Girls' School was forced to close its doors," he said.

In 1963 the building was given a new role in housing part of the Police Service.

Mr Lewis said the monumental scale of the building reflected the particular community and educational philosophy of that time in history and a great optimism in Perth's future.

"Situated on a prominent hillside, the building possesses a landmark quality that dominates the surrounding landscape and is a particularly fine example of the Inter-War Classical style," he said.

"The building has also had an influence on the style of residential developments in the area."

Media contact : Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595, 221 1377