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St Lawrence's Anglican Church & Rectory

Author

City of Nedlands

Place Number

04576
There no heritage location found in the Google fusion table.

Location

Cnr Viking & Alexander Rds Dalkeith

Location Details

Local Government

Nedlands

Region

Metropolitan

Construction Date

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type Status Date Documents More information
Heritage List Adopted 19 Dec 2017
State Register Registered 09 May 1997 Register Entry
Assessment Documentation
Heritage Council

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type Status Date Documents
(no listings)

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type Status Date Grading/Management More information
Category Description
Municipal Inventory Adopted 23 Oct 2018 Category A

Category A

Worthy of the highest level of protection: recommended for entry into the State Register of Heritage Places which gives legal protection; (some places in this category are already on the State Register of Heritage places); development requires consultation with the Heritage Council of WA and the local government; provide maximum encouragement to the owner under the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme to conserve the significance of the place. Incentives to promote heritage conservation should be considered.

Municipal Inventory Adopted 27 Apr 1999 Category A

Category A

Worthy of the highest level of protection: recommended for entry into the State Register of Heritage Places which gives legal protection; (some places in this category are already on the State Register of Heritage places); development requires consultation with the Heritage Council of WA and the local government; provide maximum encouragement to the owner under the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme to conserve the significance of the place. Incentives to promote heritage conservation should be considered.

Anglican Church Inventory YES 31 Jul 1996

Heritage Council
Municipal Inventory Adopted 15 Apr 1999

Heritage Council
Register of the National Estate Indicative Place

Heritage Council
Survey of 20th Ctry Architecture Completed 01 Mar 1988

Heritage Council

Statement of Significance

St Lawrence's Anglican Church has strong significant aesthetic. historic and social cultural heritage value.
In co-operation with the Vestry. the building committee and the Rector. the architects designed a building of
high aesthetic standards. The Church displays the elements necessary both internally and externally to
qualify as a fine piece of architectural composition - proportion. form. harmony. rhythm, unity and scale.
Designed by Polish architect Anthony Solarski. St Lawrence's demonstrates the Modernist influence of postwar
immigrant architects on architecture in Western Australia in the 1950s and 60s. Responding to
contemporary issues the architect designed this building to be a neutral backdrop to ensure the congregation
focused on the colour and movement of the liturgical presentation. The use of 'negative detailing' at the
junction of materials throughout. was innovative in Western Australian architecture in this period.

The building is a clear enunciation of the designer's philosophical objectives and demonstrates solutions to
problems such as sun control, lines of vision and relationship between the celebrant and the congregation. All
of it is executed in an innovative contemporary style that acknowledges traditional church design. The
building reflects a high standard of design accomplishment with refinement of detail, such that the solution of
complicated problems, appears almost as an over-simplification. The scale and harmonious treatment of the
exterior form of the building ensure it melds into the residential nature of the environs and the adjoining open
space.

St Lawrence's is highly valued by the Dalkeith Parish in reflecting the needs of a new liturgical approach
following World War II. The building represents the culmination of the efforts of the founding Vestry of the
new Parish.

Physical Description

St Lawrence's Anglican Church is located on the southern side of Viking Road among the Inter-War
residential development of Dalkeith. The church site occupies two standard suburban lots, and contains the
Church, the Rectory and a Church Hall, called the Blain Room.

The Rectory was designed by Hawkins and Sands. The Church, built contemporaneously with the Rectory,
was designed by Anthony Solarski and built by Sloan Constructions in 1957. Sympathetic use of building
materials ensures visual harmony and unity of the buildings on the site. An important design doctrine adopted
by Solarski was what is called negative detailing whereby junctions between materials were treated by forming
a grooved recess at the joint rather than the accepted method of covering the junction with a moulding.
Solarski also adopted specific and conscious methods for the control of insolation, most evident on the north
and west wall of the building. Further, the low roof pitch, the massing of the components and the flat internal
ceilings are a fundamental rejection of the Gothic pointed arch as an ecclesiastical idiom in favour of the
Mediterranean Romanesque. Accordingly, the building is an innovative post war example of the co-ordinated
amalgamation of form and function.

The exterior was restricted to three basic. yet harmonious materials - beige face brickwork, rendered and
rough cast concrete details and traditional Mediterranean orange terracotta cordova roof tiles. The roof is a
saddle back type of low pitch. the rough cast perimeter beam raking to form the gable barges. The masonry
surfaces have been treated as sculptural structural panels.

The main entrance to the building in the north west corner is surmounted by the Bell Tower with a
cantilevered rough cast concrete canopy. The brick and concrete Tower (fitted with loud speakers) is capped
with a semi-circular rough cast finished precast concrete slab and flat slabs at intermediate levels. A pattern
of textured brickwork in the Tower has been provided by offsetting groups of bricks.

The building was an important design development in Perth as an influential forerunner in the evolution of
the Late Twentieth-Century Perth Regional 1960 style. It has been maintained to a reasonable standard since
constrnction and is in sound condition. Some defects have become apparent including fretting mortar in the
lower courses of brickwork and degradation of some areas of concrete. possibly due to insufficient cover of
the reinforcement.

Members of the congregation of St Lawrence's will. in aLI likelihood. press for the building fabric to be
altered from time to time. not only to accommodate new forms of liturgical expression. but also to
accommodate memorabilia and largess. Changes in the fabric include the replacement of the original cross,
installation of a carpet run in the aisle of the Nave. the predominantly blue leadlight glazing and the gate to
the Choir Gallery. These changes are reversible or are not seen as overly intrusive. Otherwise. the designer's
original intentions arc intact and the place retains a high degree of integrity.

History

The Parish of Dalkeith evolved from the Parish of East Claremont in May 1955. The former Rector of East
Claremont, Reverend A F J Blain, was appointed and took services in a house on the south west corner of the
intersection of Waratah Avenue and Adelma Road, some distance from the present site. The new Vestry,
which included Mr Charles Court (later to be Premier of WA), Mr Lloyd Fethers, Mr Oliver Hynes and Mr
Reg North, soon decided to demolish the old house and build a new hall on the site. The design and
construction of the Rectory in Alexander Road was commenced by 1956, followed by the commissioning of
the design and later, the construction of the church. The foundation stone was laid by the Governor, Sir
Charles Gairdner, on 28 April 1957 and the building was consecrated on 15 September of the same year.

The project was partially funded from loans which eventually became burdensome for the Parish. In 1968 the
hall was sold to the Bridge Club and a new hall, called the Blain Room, was built adjoining the church in
Alexander Road.

Reverend Blain served as Rector until 30 June 1967, handing over to the Reverend John Cook who continued
for the next eight years. In October 1975, Bishop Denis Bryant commenced a tenure of ten years to be
succeeded by the Reverend Barry May between October 1989 and September 1992, and the Reverend Peter
Ferguson from February 1993.

In 1962 the St Lawrence Church Tower was used to enhance the television coverage of the Empire Games.
Fixed high in the tower was a beam bender, part of Channel 7's equipment for a direct telecast of the Lawn
Bowls events at Dalkeith. Channel 7 engineers found they could not beam signals direct from the Dalkeith
Bowling Club to the Tuart Hill Studio for transmission - St Lawrence's Tower saved the day.

Associations

Name Type Year From Year To
Anthony Solarski Architect - -

Other Reference Numbers

Ref Number Description
D32 LGA Place No

State Heritage Office library entries

Library Id Title Medium Year Of Publication

Place Type

Individual Building or Group

Uses

Epoch General Specific
Original Use RELIGIOUS Church, Cathedral or Chapel
Present Use RELIGIOUS Church, Cathedral or Chapel
Present Use RELIGIOUS Housing or Quarters
Original Use RELIGIOUS Housing or Quarters

Architectural Styles

Style
Post-War Ecclesiastical

Construction Materials

Type General Specific
Other STONE Granite
Wall BRICK Common Brick
Wall RENDER Roughcast
Roof TILE Cement Tile

Historic Themes

General Specific
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES Religion
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY Land allocation & subdivision

Creation Date

01 Feb 1996

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

19 Sep 2022

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.