Tawarri Reception Centre

Values

 The place represents the practice of establishing pools along the river’s edge for community recreation during the mid-twentieth century.
 The place provides an example of a purpose-built function/reception centre constructed in the mid-twentieth century.
 The dome structure incorporated into the Tawarri Reception Centre is a relatively rare, albeit modest example, of the Late Twentieth Century Organic architectural style.

Physical Description

The place comprises a central concrete dome structure, which meets the ground at three points, constructed in 1957. Further additions were incorporated in 1966 including an entrance lobby, toilets, kitchen and service rooms. These comprise pre-cast concrete, glass panels, painted brickwork and a flat steel roof. The place was primarily used as a function centre, but the concrete dome originally sat adjacent to a pool which utilised hot water from a burst artesian bore. The pool no longer remains extant.

History

Noongar boodja (country) covers the entire south-western portion of Western Australia from Jurien Bay to Esperance. Noongar people lived in family groups and those living in and around the Perth area were collectively known as the Whadjuk. The Whadjuk relied on the ocean, the Swan River and the freshwater lakes that once lay between the coast and the Darling scarp for food and moved seasonally through across the country. The Reserve on which Tawarri Reception Centre is situated was set aside for public recreation in 1920, and in 1923 it was made into a public camping ground. A bore had been drilled here in the 1920s to provide water to the locality, which came up hot from the Yarragadee Aquifer. The hot water was used to create a timber lined public bathing tub. In about 1923, the State Gardens Board constructed a public stone enclosed bathing pool which utilised the hot water from the bore. In 1947 management was transferred to the City of Nedlands.

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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