'Purtell's Buildings' Commercial Building

Statement of Significance

The place at Nos. 380 - 388 Newcastle Street has some aesthetic value as a row of shops with associated first floor residential component in the Federation Free Classical style of architecture, which has retained much of external detailing including the distinctive verandah, parapet and glazed shopfronts. The place has some aesthetic value through its contribution to the corner of Newcastle Street and Fitzgerald Streets in West Perth. The place has some historic significance as it demonstrates the important phase of development as it was constructed during the Gold Boom in Western Australia. The place has some social value. It contributes in to the community’s sense of place as a distinctive and well known landmark at the Newcastle Street and Fitzgerald Street intersection in West Perth and as the various businesses that occupied the place, provided a range of services to the community through much of the twentieth century. Such businesses included: a pizza shop, a green grocer, fish and chip shop, a laundry, a costumiers shop, a butcher and boot maker.

Physical Description

The two-storey brick and iron row of six shops at Nos. 380 -388 Newcastle Street, West Perth was constructed circa 1906 in the Federation Free Classical style of architecture. The building is located on the corner of Newcastle Street and Fitzgerald Street with a nil set back to the road verge and a truncated corner entrance point. The building has a distinct parapet that is decorated with regularly spaced pilasters above a continuous string course. The parapet has the words 'Purtell's Building' embossed along its southern elevation and also sets of circle motifs, which are cut into the brickwork and spaced evenly between the pilasters. Each of the six shops has its own hipped iron roof, which are concealed from Newcastle Street by the decorative parapet. There are three separated two-storey skillion additions to the rear of the building. These additions are located to service two shops each. They sit approximately 1 metre below the roofline of the original two-storey and comprise timber framed sash windows, various door openings and a brick chimney. The upper bull nose verandah is supported by turned timber posts, which are connected by a timber balustrade. The verandah appears to be in a poor condition. The tenancies along the first floor are divided by a continuation of the pilaster detail of the parapet and each contains a timber framed sash window. The Building Licence plans and images of the place indicate that there are no doors, which lead out onto this verandah. The ground floor portion of the façade has a cantilevered bow verandah under the timber upper storey covered verandah with turned posts. The original timber boards of the fascia remain extant along all tenancies with the exception of the two eastern tenancies, which have sheet metal. The whole building has been painted. However, the original tuck pointed brick, of the front facade is visible through the layers of paint. Below waist height on the ground floor the façade has been rendered. There is a pair of double low waisted timber glass panel doors, with a fanlight within the ground floor corner truncation. The configuration of the original shopfronts remains intact with the exception of the fenestration detail of the corner shop. However, over the years some of the original materials have been replaced. The five shops, which front Newcastle Street, have a recessed entrance point. The three western shops have a recessed entry aligned to the east. The fourth western shop has a centrally located recessed entrance and the fifth shop has an entrance aligned to the west. An interesting component of the shopfronts is a decorative glass panel, with mullion detail, above the height of the doors, which runs the length of each shopfront. This detail only remains on three of the tenancies and has been replaced or concealed on the others. The floor of the recessed entry point of the shop fronts is terrazzo. A small potion of the building runs along Fitzgerald Street. This portion comprises the corner shop's east facing window with a nil setback to the road verge and a recessed side entry with a separate bull nose verandah. Vehicular access is provided off Fitzgerald Street to the rear of the subject place. There is a right of way along the western boundary of the property. The subject place is located at the corner of Newcastle Street and Fitzgerald Street in West Perth. This busy intersection comprises and eclectic range of buildings, which demonstrates the varying phases of development in the Perth area. Directly opposite the subject place at Nos. 377 - 387 Newcastle Street there is a row of single-storey brick and tile attached shops, which were built in the Inter-war period. Known as Wallpaper World this place was permanently listed on the State Register of Heritage Places in 2002. Along the south east corner of the intersection there is a modern three-storey building, which feature predominantly glass panels. To the west of the subject place is a Federation Bungalow, which has been converted into an office premises with an attached large warehouse to its rear. Behind the subject place there is a 1970s two- storey office building, which is well set back off Fitzgerald Street. Further along Fitzgerald Street there are a number of detached singlet storey Federation dwellings. Minor modifications to shop front and some internal alterations.

History

At the beginning of the 1890s there were few houses situated within Perth and much of the area was still scrubland. In 1884, just prior to the Gold Boom, the population of the Perth district was just over 6000. The 1890s Gold Boom brought a hug influx of prospectors to the State, many of whom became permanent settlers. In 1891, the population had grown to 9,500 and in 1901 it was nearly 44,000. By the end of the Gold Boom in 1911, the population of Perth had reached 87,000. The Northbridge area was highly attractive for investment purposes and because of its proximity to the city and transport routes. Various Buildings, cottages and commercial premises, which provided a range of goods and services, began to appear along Newcastle Street, Fitzgerald Street (formally known as Ellen Street), Aberdeen Street and William Streets in the latter half of the 1890s and particularly in the first decade of the twentieth century. The land in and around these streets were used for a variety of purposes including stables and industry. Wise's Post Office Directories for 1895/6 indicate that William Tapping ran a dairy in this area. The more substantial retail developments were generally not constructed until the area was reasonably well developed and the population large enough to support a number of specialty shops. The place at No. 380 -388 was no exception, being constructed in circa 1906, after more than a decade of continuous development in the area. The two-storey building was constructed with six shops on the ground floor and residential accommodation above. It was situated on Lot Y181. It is difficult ascertain the precise construction date of the subject place as the street numbering in the Wise Post Office Directories changes frequently in the first decade of the twentieth century and as no original Building Licence plans were located. In 1905, there is no reference to any form of shop at the corner of Fitzgerald and Newcastle Streets, rather W. Werrett's Perseverance Wood Yard is listed. In 1907 Mr W Birt a Confectioner is listed at No. 310 Newcastle Street; Mrs F Schulster was listed at No. 312 and William Cody a boot maker was listed with no street address. The following year there are six shop uses listed for the premise at No. 378 - 386 including a butcher at No. 378, a costumiers shop at No. 380, a dealer at No. 382, Mrs F Schulster grocer shop at No. 384 and William Cody a boot maker was listed at No. 386. The place is referred to as Nos. 378 - 386 Newcastle Street until 1938 when it was renumbered to Nos. 380-388 Newcastle Street. A review of the Wise Post Office Directories indicates that the shop tenancies changed frequently. In 1910 the row of shops was occupied by William Allen's butcher shop, 'Alexandra Tea Rooms', William B. Soutar a grocer and Sam Kee's laundry was still there. In 1915 the shops were occupied by Micheal Wynne's butcher shop, the Miss O'Dea's Austral Tea Rooms, a green grocer and Sam Kee's laundry. At this time one shop was not occupied and one tenancy did not have a use associated with it. In 1920 the shops continued to be occupied by Micheal Wynne's butcher shop, Mrs E Batty's Tea Rooms, one green grocer and one grocer. At this time one tenancy was not occupied and one tenancy did not have a use associated with it. In 1930, following the Great Depression of 1929, all the shops were tenanted with Reg Lege's Butcher Shop in the corner tenancy, Ms Alice Jones's dressmaker, Hurtle Jenkins' Teas Rooms, one green grocer and one grocer and by J Polinelli's Fish and Chip Shop. The replacement of Sam Kee's laundry with Mr J. Polinelli's Fish and chip shop is illustrative of the changing ethnic composition of the area as a new wave of migrants took up residency. The building continued to be inhabited by mixed businesses up until the late 1930s. However, around this time the uses became less assured as in 1940 only two of the tenancies were in operation and the other two were vacant. After World War II Perth's popularity as a suburb declined. People preferred the new suburbs as commercial expansion began to encroach on the residential areas, changing the character of the busier streets. The drop in demand for housing in Perth led to lower rents in the 1960s and early 1970s and, with less income, many of the houses and shops became very dilapidated. Larger commercial firms began to move into the area in the 1970s and 80s. The busy streets '“ Newcastle, William and Beaufort '“ were particularly vulnerable and the result was the demolition of numbers of small shops and dwellings. They were replaced by large-scale outlets, warehouses, car yards and small office blocks. A number of Building Licence plans for the building were located and provide an insight into the various alterations that have occurred to the place over time. In 1982, plans were submitted by Brett Nominees for the refurbishment of the shops at Nos. 380 - 388 Newcastle Street and the adjacent shop at No. 121 Fitzgerald Street. The works at this time involved: the demolition of all existing sheds, WC's and laundries to the yard area all of which was then landscaped and paved; the upgrade of the toilet facilities for the shop staff behind tenancy 2 (No.382 Newcastle Street); the re-roofing and repair of the first floor balcony joinery; new kitchens to the rear of all tenancies and the provision of laundry and bathroom facilities to the first floor and the application of a new render and paint to external brick work. In 1985, a set of plans, submitted by Chris Robinson and Associates were received for a pizza bar on the ground floor and tea rooms along the first floor of the corner tenancy. The application was refused as the premises could not accommodate the required number of parking areas. Revised plans were submitted in 1986, which removed the tea room component upstairs in order to reduce the required number of car parking bays. This application was approved. Today the only shop use appears to be a Chinese Acupuncturist in one of the middle tenancies and a computer shop, which is located within the corner tenancy. The tenancy next to the corner computer shop has been renovated for habitable purposes. On 12 May 2004, the Heritage Council of Western Australia wrote to the Town of Vincent advising that they had received a referral pursuant to section 9 of the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990 in respect to the Purtell's Building. The Heritage Council advised that its Register Committee considered that the place may have cultural heritage value and determined to add the place onto its Heritage Assessment program. No further action in this regard has been taken. In 2007 one of the owners of the subject property received financial assistance through the Town of Vincent Heritage Assistance Fund to undertake conservation works to the external wall including the removal of paint and tuckpointing.

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