Central TAFE, Leederville Campus

Values

The place was the first purpose built suburban technical school to be built.

The place demonstrates the increased demand in the post-Second World War period for trade skills and qualifications.

Physical Description

The Central TAFE, Leederville Campus consists of one, two, three and four-storey buildings that face onto both Richmond Street and Oxford Street, near the commercial centre of Leederville.

The one and two-storey buildings facing Richmond street are the original buildings, constructed in cream face brick with parapeted walls and horizontal bands of windows. Other one-storey buildings on site are gable roofed brick dado and render pavilions.

Free standing one and two-storey buildings in a more industrial style have been added to the campus through acquisition and purpose built facilities.

Three and four-storey buildings were later constructed facing Oxford Street, which accommodated the support facilities, including the library, lecturing hall, tutorial space, and canteen.

History

The Central TAFE, Leederville Campus buildings were constructed in 1948 in response to the increasing demand for a larger technical trade school in the metropolitan area, to sister the Perth Technical College in Perth.

Prior to 1900 there was no regular courses available for technical trades in Western Australia, and apprentices only received on-the-job instruction. However in 1899 a Director of Technical Education was appointed, and the Old Perth Boys School (RHP 2117) on St Georges Terrace was renovated and reopened as Perth Technical School in 1900. The school was later enlarged and renamed Perth Technical College in 1929. During the Second World War, specialist tradesmen were trained at the college as part of Army and Air Force schemes.

More classrooms and education space was needed, and as the Perth Technical College occupied a restricted site, it was decided to construct a new Technical College at a site in the suburb of Leederville adjacent to Leederville Primary School (fmr) (RHP 3375) on Oxford Street.

The Leederville Technical College, was the first purpose built suburban technical school in Western Australia. Commonwealth funds were allocated for the construction of new workshops for carpentry. The facility was opened in 1948, and specialised in trade courses, while the Technical College continued to teach Associate Diploma courses.

Other suburban technical college campuses were built in Bentley in 1965 (later the WA Institute of Technology, now Curtin University) and other technical schools were established in Mount Lawley and Wembley. Another technical college was constructed on Aberdeen Street in Northbridge in the mid 1970s, which became the Central Campus of Technical and Further Education. Each campus specialised in a number of subjects to avoid overlapping of courses.

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