Mt Lawley's Beaucott Building wins heritage listing

30/5/01
One of Mount Lawley's best known landmarks has won the protection of the State Government's heritage laws.
The historic Beaucott Building is named after its location on the north-east intersection of Beaufort and Walcott Streets.
Environment and Heritage Minister Dr Judy Edwards said as the commercial heart of Mt Lawley for nearly 100 years, the Beaucott Building deserved to be on the Heritage Council of Western Australia's interim register of heritage places.
"The Beaucott Building was originally built as a simple complex of shops and residences in the earliest days of the suburb," Dr Edwards said.
"The building was then extensively remodelled and refurbished in the art deco style in the 1930s, helping transform Mount Lawley into one of the finest residential districts of the State.
"Since then, the Beaucott Building has been an integral part of the business and social fabric of the Mount Lawley area."
Dr Edwards said the original 1905 building was a single-storey structure comprising four shops and residences. Its early tenants included storekeepers, butchers, hairdressers, tobacconists, greengrocers and bootmakers. Between 1909 and 1913 the store also acted as a post office.
In 1937, owner Louisa Wilson engaged prominent architect William G Bennett to upgrade, modernise and extend the building.
"Despite the lean years of the Depression, Louisa Wilson's shops had been fully occupied and she was in good financial health," Dr Edwards said.
"Mount Lawley was a growing suburb and the world was emerging from the Depression with a new sense of optimism.
"Bennett's design was for a modern, two-storey building in art deco style, with six new shops on the ground floor, living quarters above, and six or seven professional rooms."
Dr Edwards said Bennett was one of the State's best-known architects and a pioneer of modern architecture. Some of his other well-known works include the Raffles, Majestic and Ocean Beach Hotels and the Regal Theatre in Subiaco.
The Beaucott Building was the first of three substantial buildings on the intersection of Beaufort and Walcott Streets to be refurbished in the art deco, or Inter-War Functionalist style.
"This refurbishment in a modern style of architecture established the character of the Mount Lawley area," Dr Edwards said.
"Together with the Lyceum Theatre and Broadway Buildings on the western side, it creates an important and rare precinct of Inter-War Functionalist Buildings.
"The building is in generally good condition and has a high degree of integrity, as it has continued to operate as a retail centre.
"It also has a high level of authenticity, with most of the original 1905 structure incorporated into the 1937 redevelopment."
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