Walsh’s Building
On a busy Perth corner, Talbot Hobbs’s Art Deco replacement for a burned-out department store still anchors the intersection of Hay and William Streets.
At a glance
Walsh’s Building occupies the corner of Hay Street and William Street in central Perth, facing the Gledden Building and Wesley Church across the intersection. Completed in 1923, it was designed by Talbot Hobbs in the Inter-war Art Deco style. It carries National Trust classification and has passed through several commercial identities since opening.
History
The site previously held the Economic Store, destroyed by fire in 1921. Sir William Lathlain, then Perth’s mayor, had been proprietor of that earlier business. Construction of its replacement began in 1922 under lead contractor C. W. Arnott and finished by early 1923. The Economic Store returned as first tenant. Later the ground floor became home to Walsh’s Menswear, which gave the building its present name. A basement food court operated for years until fire damaged it severely in 2007, closing that level. A A$15-million renovation, completed in late 2012, brought the building back into full commercial use.
What you see
Talbot Hobbs, prolific across the Perth CBD, gave the building the geometric restraint typical of Inter-war Art Deco. Its corner position lets the facade address two streets at once, a common Deco strategy for commercial buildings of the period. The article does not detail specific ornament, but the style’s clean vertical lines and disciplined proportion mark it clearly among its heritage-listed neighbours. Stand at the intersection and the building reads as part of a coordinated 1920s streetscape, not an isolated set piece.
Cultural significance
The building’s value lies partly in continuity. It replaced a landmark lost to fire, then survived its own fire decades later, each time returning to trade. Its National Trust of Western Australia classification, granted in 1978, recognises this as a significant surviving example of interwar commercial architecture in the city centre. Sitting opposite the Gledden Building and Wesley Church, it forms part of a small cluster of heritage sites that together preserve the character of one of Perth’s oldest commercial corners.
Key facts
- Location: corner of Hay Street and William Street, Perth, Western Australia
- Architect: Talbot Hobbs
- Style: Inter-war Art Deco
- Construction: 1922–1923; lead contractor C. W. Arnott
- Heritage status: classified by the National Trust of Western Australia, 1978
- Notable renovation: A$15 million, completed late 2012
Practical information & getting there
The building sits in the heart of Perth’s central business district, easily reached on foot from Perth train station or by bus along Hay Street. As an active commercial building, you can view its exterior any time while walking the Hay Street and William Street corner. Nearby, the Gledden Building and Wesley Church make the intersection worth a slower pass for anyone interested in the city’s interwar streetscape.
Sources & resources
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