'Friendlies Corner', fmr 'Westpac Junction'

Parent Place or Precinct

16743 William & Wellington Street Precinct

Statement of Significance

The majority of the buildings in William and Wellington Street Precinct were constructed during the late Gold Boom period and are representative of the reconstruction of the central Perth business district at this time as small shops and residences were demolished and replaced with multi-storey retail and commercial premises accommodating a variety of tenants. As one of the principal areas in the central business district of Perth, Western Australia’s capital city, and a major access route from the north, William and Wellington Street Precinct is valued by the community for its contribution to the built environment of the City of Perth and contributes to the sense of place of the community of the State.

Physical Description

Wales Arcade (fmr) was constructed in 1967 and refurbished in 1990. Now known as Westpac Junction, the building has had various tenants over the years. The site was previously occupied by a large retail and commercial building that extended around the corner into William Street and of which, Commercial Building 96-100 William Street (behind the temporary cladding) is the only remnant. Wales Arcade (fmr), a six-storey building with shops at ground floor and offices above, is constructed in the Late Twentieth-Century International style and has the characteristic form of a multi storey office building constructed in the Post–War period. It has alternating bands of masonry spandrels and ribbon windows. The windows are shaded by ribbed concrete sunhoods. The street elevation is divided into three parts by piers that rise for the full height of the building. The east and west walls are constructed of painted brickwork. The building has a canopy running continuously across its street elevation, with the face of the building below canopy level filled by a modern shop front. This building is intrusive to the William and Wellington Street Precinct as it is much larger than the other buildings, doesn't exhibit the same degree of modulation that give the earlier buildings a similar sense of order and scale and because it doesn't relate to the street in the same fashion. (Source: Assessment Document William and Wellington Street Precinct 15/10/2004).

History

The post-World War Two period brought about the most significant changes to the Perth central area since the gold rush days of the 1890s and early 1900s.There were some redevelopment in the William and Wellington Street Precinct during this period. On the eastern side of William Street the Federation period commercial buildings were demolished or redeveloped and replaced with multi-storey retail and office buildings in the 1960s, including 110 William Street.

Integrity/Authenticity

High level of integrity. Medium level of authenticity.

Condition

Fair

Uses

Creation Date

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