Brittania Hotel

Statement of Significance

The place has aesthetic value as a well-designed and proportioned Federation Free Classical building whose scale, detailing, materials and location on a prominent corner comprise a landmark in Northbridge.

The place has historic value as it reflects the economic changes in Western Australia, particularly the gold boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which resulted in heavy development of the street.

The place has historic value as it represents a continuity of commercial use, and a multiplicity of uses which shaped the character and present diversity of the area. The place has historic value for its original use as a coffee palace, one of several in the area, that reflected a nationwide trend for temperance hotels during that era.

The place has social value as it contributes to the community's sense of place as an integral component of the Northbridge district.

The place is highly intact and has a strong continuity of use, as the lower tenancies have remained as retail use, with the upper levels being used as a backpackers.

Physical Description

Extemeral - Three-storey brick and iron building wrapping around the north-west corner of William and Francis streets. The place has a corner tower with faceted dome clad in slate, which has been subsequently painted, and a steeply pitched corrugated metal roof painted red on the street side. The area directly below the dome features a band of highly detailed mouldings. The facade is highly ornate, with decorative tiles placed between the second floor windows. In the centre of the William Street facade is a central raised parapet, which features shield, scrolls and other decorative details. A paint finish has been applied to the facade (2-3 times).
The side parapets are face brick, painted in part, and may retain evidence of early painted signs. Tall, narrow timber framed casement windows are set into decorative stucco mouldings, featuring scrolled triangular pediments, and are set at regular intervals on the first and second floors.

The ground floor has been modified to accommodate a variety of uses and verandahs to the ground and first floor have been removed. The William Street shops generally comprise a narrow shop space with private space behind.

Shopfronts in the northern portion of the building retain their original configuration, with re-entrant doors, whilst the remaining shopfronts, including the double-fronted cafe on the corner, have extensively modified elevations.

Internal - The shops are generally in fair-good condition. The hotel portion of the place comprises two floors of small rooms leading off long corridors, with a three-storey service block to the rear of the building.

The hotel retains some of its early features, including pressed metal ceilings, timber lined ceilings and joinery (including staircases, doors and windows).

Later additions are quite utilitarian, and there have been some unsympathetic alterations and repairs to the place, but the original intent and circulation can be clearly read. Internally, the ground floor shops have been refurbished for a number of different ground floor shops have been refurbished for a number of different uses, and the quality of the finishes varies. In some shops, original elements such as ripple iron ceilings are still extant, and it may be possible that other original elements are concealed behind later works.

History

The Brittania (also spelt Britannia) Hotel was originally built as a coffee palace, to service travellers and families. The term coffee palace was generally used to describe temperance hotels, built from the 1880s onwards, to provide an alternative to licenced hotels. In addition to food and drink, coffee palaces offered accommodation, and often recreational and leisure facilities. The construction of coffee palaces coincided with the gold rush of the late nineteenth century, and reflects the use of Northbridge as a trade, accommodation and light manufacturing hub. The temperance movement reached its peak in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, and as its popularity waned many coffee palaces applied for liquor licences.

The hotel was built in 1897 and opened on the 7 June 1897. It was run by Mr C. W. Genge, with accommodation for up to 150 permanent and temporary borders. In 1903 the place was extended to include another 35 rooms, and in 1927 plans were made to undertake further refurbishments. The hotel originally catered for travellers and families, however during the interwar period the hotel was blighted by several murders, robberies and suicides. The hotel appears to have had working class associations, and was also the address of many young men who signed up for World War I.

Post office records show that the ground floor was used as several small tenancies, with the main entrance to the hotel at No.253-255. This arrangement is reflected in early PWD drawings which show eight ground floor tenancies with a double width tenancy at No.253-255.

Post Office records from 1915 show that the ground floor was used as a music warehouse, tobacconist and hairdresser, small goods store, baker, and engineers. In 1925 the ground floor tenancies were used as a grocer, tobacconist and hairdresser, ham and beef store, wine saloon, book store, and dressmaker. In the interwar and post war period the ground floor tenancies were used as a grocer, ham and beef store, wine saloon, dining rooms, second hand dealer, boot repairers, and a clothing store.

In 1955 it underwent extensive alterations at street level. A photograph dated c.1930 shows verandahs to the ground and first floor which have since been removed, and that the facade was originally tuck-pointed face brick with decorative stucco mouldings that have since been painted.

In 1966 the ground floor accommodated a number of shops with re-entrant doors, some of which have since been altered in the southern portion of the building. The place currently accommodates retail and hospitality outlets on the ground floor, and backpacker accommodation in the remainder of the building.

Current tenants are Han's Cafe at 245 William Street, Seoul Buffet at 253A William Street, Britannia on William at 253 William (which occupies the entire building apart from the ground floor shops), Travel Affairs at 259 William Street, Sicari Stationery at 261 William Street, Siam Temple boutique at 263 William Street and Optima Vision at 266 William Street.

Integrity/Authenticity

High level of integrity.
High level of authenticity.

Condition

Fair

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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.