Historic Heart of Perth - Architecture, Art and Stadium Walks
- Out and About
- Oct 3, 2018
- 10 min read
Updated: May 27
Historic Heart of Perth is a non-profit organisation established with the aim of revitalising Perth's east end and promoting it's great assets. Historic Heart of Perth provides 5 self guided, flexible themed walks covering Architecture, Art, Coffee, Small Museums and the Stadium walk between the city and the new Optus Stadium utilising the brand new Matagarup Bridge to cross the Swan River. Originally walked in 2018 we refreshed this walk in 2025 accessing the Historic Heart website which provides links to downloadable brochures as we could not find the advertised app.
ARCHITECTURE WALK
After catching a train into the City we got off at Elizabeth Quay and walked past the heritage buildings on the Esplanade before heading up Barrack Street to St Georges Terrace to find the Kangaroos on the Terrace. These seven bronze statues of life sized kangaroos are said to represent a mob of kangaroos who have been lazily feeding, but are then startled by the traffic and are about to take off and bounce away down the terrace.
Over their 140-year history, the State Buildings have been used as Public Offices, a Police Court and cellblock, Treasury, Survey Department, GPO, Immigration Offices, office of the Premier and Cabinet, Lands Department and Titles Building. During the last half of the 20th century, various government departments left the building for new accommodation. After this, the site was empty for nearly two decades and a variety of proposals for its redevelopment never saw the light of day. However, it now has a new lease of life with a variety of upmarket bars, cafes and retail spaces, including the luxury COMO The Treasury Hotel. As home to the first Post Office these buildings are Point Zero, the point from which all distances are measured in relation to Perth. Look down to find the Point Zero marker.
We walked through the State Buildings to explore Dirty Deeds, an artwork illustrating where the two holding cells for the Police Court used to stand and the kind of people who spent time there. ‘A miserable little box,’ was how the cells were described by one commentator in the press at the time, ‘shocked at the smallness and want of ventilation and light’ by another. The footprint of the original cells can now be seen etched into the granite at the back of the State buildings, including the tiny windows and entry doors to the cells.
Continue on to explore around Perth Town Hall which celebrated it's 150th anniversary in 2020. All of the woodwork, including the roof, was constructed by prisoners in Fremantle, and the huge circular ribs for the roof were conveyed from the prison to Perth on a carriage specially constructed for the purpose. Convicts also assisted with the hard work of raising what was then Perth’s tallest building. We walked under the gothic arches which housed the camels that were part of explorer Ernest Giles expedition which stopped here in 1875.
We then walked along Hay Street, around COMO The Treasury to the Perth City Library. If it is open be sure to head inside to check out the magnificent ceiling mural. Outside is a statue of Sir James Stirling (28 January 1791 – 22 April 1865), a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia. Across the road is the art deco façade of the Criterion Hotel and some colourful planter boxes depicting native flora. The Criterion Hotel is significant as the site of the oldest continuously licensed public house in Perth, with a “pub” operating on the site of the Criterion Hotel since at least 1848.
Head into Cathedral Square with the magnificent St George's Cathedral. The foundation stone was laid on 2 November 1880, although it took until 8 August 1888 before St George’s Cathedral was ready for its first service. The history of this area is incredible and it makes one appreciate that so much effort has gone into restoring and revitalising this area. Ascalon, the striking, billowing white sculpture that stands before St George’s Cathedral is an abstract interpretation of the legend of St George and the dragon. The sculpture depicts the triumph of good over evil, with the sculpture’s angled pole and white billow representing St George’s lance, cloak and steed, and its black base reminiscent of the defeated body of the dragon.
Follow St Georges Terrace passing Burt Hall and The Deanery and with the former St Andrews Uniting Church on the corner head up Pier Street where you will find the bright blue Cygna. Continue on stopping to check out the murals in the laneway next to Dadas Records including some Straker murals. Straker's unique murals appear to light up streets like neon signs, but are actually 2D and created using only spray paint and a ‘neon glow’ technique (of white lines under a transparent colour). Continue on past the former Salvation Army Headquarters, constructed in 1899. Complete with a fortress this building was designed in the Federation Free style of architecture. On the corner of Murray Street is the former Derward Hotel now operating as Miss Maud's.
Following Murray Street east you pass the former Government Printing Offices, built between 1894 and 1922 in the Federation Free Style. The original building was completed in 1894 at a cost of 4,144 pounds, with additions made in 1907 and 1922. The printer was responsible for the printing of Parliamentary papers, The Government Gazette, most of the official stationery of the various Government departments, and the publication of the scientific and professional papers prepared by the Government Geologist and other officers.
Across the road is the former Salvation Army Congress Hall, constructed in 1929-1930 in the Inter-War Georgian style. The Congress Hall is linked to the Salvation Army Headquarters building in Pier Street by a bridge over the adjacent laneway . Both buildings have now been repurposed. Also here are the former Chief Secretary's Building, built of Donnybrook stone, the former Government Stores and the Young Australia League, all in close proximity.
On the corner of Murray and Irwin Streets is the old Gilkinson Dance Studios. Some cute critters have been painted by James Giddy on the planter boxes.
This area has been redeveloped around the Number 1 Fire Station and Hibernian Hall. The No 1 Fire Station was the first purpose-built fire station in WA. It opened in 1901 and continued in operation until 1979. The large engine room had three exits and held two large steamers and two hose carts, which doubled the equipment with which the brigade had previously been working. When a call was received, an officer pressed a button, which set the alarms ringing, flooded the building with electric light, and opened the trap doors in the ceilings to clear the sliding poles. Before No. 1 Fire Station was built in 1900, the Fire Brigade operated from the undercover area beneath the Town Hall on Barrack Street.
Venture through Hibernian Place which features various restaurants to check out the Hibernian Place Muse by renowned street artist Rone.
Back to Murray Street notice the old building incorporated into the Westin Hotel design. You can't miss the magnificent old Moreton Bay fig - planted in 1900 - across the road which all but hides the front of The Royal Perth Hospital Heritage (RPH) Precinct, home to the first purpose built hospital in Western Australia. It was opened in 1855 and continues in operation today. The design of the buildings within the Precinct show changes over time in medical practice - as well as the development of State Government architecture from the construction of the first building in 1855 through to the 1930s.
Continue on to Victoria Square to see the many different faces of St Mary's Cathedral which has undergone many renovations over the years.
Other buildings around Victoria Square tell their own heritage stories including the Victoria Square Cottages, the Archbishops Palace and the Sisters of Mercy Convent, built in 1871, which houses the Mercy Heritage Centre. Here you can share in the story of the first Mercy Foundation in Australia in 1846 and learn more about the Mercy ministries and various traditions which have developed since then. Head down Victoria Avenue to see St John's Pro Cathedral built in 1865, the first Catholic Church in the state. The Cathedral is constructed of brick which has been covered with lime render and painted ochre to resemble the colour of the original building. Arched windows frame the building with wooden mullions and clear glass. It was the centre of Catholic life in the Swan River Colony for twenty years until the first St Mary’s Cathedral was completed in 1865.
From Victoria Square you can choose to follow the Stadium Walk loop to Matagarup Bridge and Optus Stadium - scroll down for more information.
Otherwise follow Hay Street east a short distance passing Mercedes College and on to the Perth Mint. Established in 1899, The Perth Mint is the oldest operating mint in Australia, and Australia's only remaining gold rush mint. If open you can wander in to see The Strike, a sculpture which depicts Arthur Bayley and William Ford, the two gold prospectors whose discovery 120 years ago at Fly Flat, Coolgardie, triggered the greatest gold rush in Western Australian history.
Head along Hill Street to Adelaide Terrace. You will find a statue of John Septimus Roe outside the Dome Cafe on the corner of Victoria Avenue. Here Adelaide Terrace changes to St Georges Terrace and as you continue west you will pass the Perth Concert Hall which opened in 1973 and is constructed in the Brutalist style.
The grounds of Government House (1864) lie opposite St Georges Cathedral and next to Council House, built in 1961 and heritage listed in 2006.
Wend your way through pretty Stirling Gardens to the Supreme Court building which is an excellent example of the Federation Academic Classical architectural style used for major public buildings in the early 1900s. Its formal proportions and grand scale and design represent the role of the legal system in society and respect, being the main law enforcing institution in the city. Construction of the Supreme Court was a major technical design achievement on a difficult site on the edge of the river in the early 1900s. The building features a dignified setting, largely concealed by dense gardens, which shield it from its public surroundings.
Nestled next to the Supreme Court building is the Old Court House - the oldest building in WA. It has the unique claim of being the key place where religion, education and the law were truly born in the young colony. Before the Old Court House was opened in 1837, a temporary ‘rush church’ on the corner of Hay and Irwin Streets had doubled as place of worship and court. This tradition of multiple use was continued when Perth’s civil engineer, Henry Reveley, was tasked with designing “a suitable building as a court-house which could likewise be appropriated to the uses of a temporary church”. He drew up plans for a simple building with a distinctive Doric entrance, and construction started in 1836. Opening on Good Friday, 24 March 1837, for worship, the Old Court House started hearing law cases the following morning. Everything from a boy charged with stealing a melon to a man suspected of murder were all held in the one place. Sometimes the school which also used the room had to be interrupted if an important case was to be heard.
From 1905 to 1964 the Arbitration Court was held there, after which it became the offices for the Law Society of Western Australia. From 1987 it has been the Old Court House Law Museum which is open to anyone who wishes to explore Western Australia’s fascinating legal past.
Having now completed the walk you can opt to venture down to Elizabeth Quay and explore the Bell Tower and all that Elizabeth Quay has to offer.
STADIUM WALK (Detour)
From Victoria Square it is a 3km walk along Hay Street and around the WACA to the riverfront path which leads to Matagarup Bridge and Optus Stadium. It is worth the view even if you don't venture all the way to the bridge.
From Victoria Square head east along Hay Street passing the Grosvenor Hotel, built in 1886 as a private home. It was granted a hotel licence later that same year to Robert Stroud. The Grosvenor has been in service as a pub ever since, and this makes it one of the oldest pubs still operating in Perth today.
Continue on to the Perth Mint from where it is a bit of a walk along Hay Street to Queens Gardens - make sure you detour through this pretty green space and check out the Peter Pan statue (toilets available here). Now a 3.3ha park, the site was initially used for recreation, including horse racing, and then later used as a clay pit and brickworks. Bricks produced from the site between 1860 and 1890 feature in many of Perth’s prominent buildings constructed at that time.
Depending on your interest level you can walk around the WACA, currently under redevelopment and the plans look very exciting! We then skirted around Trinity College with the Boorloo Bridge a little way over to our right. A more direct route to Matagarup Bridge is directly from Queens Gardens and skirting Gloucester Park.
We caught our first glimpses of the spectacular Matagarup_Bridge. The highest point is apparently higher than the Stadium roof. The stadium came into view and it is a spectacular sight across the river. As you cross you can see the stairs leading up the arches and once the construction is complete these will be open for the public to climb. There are also plenty of amazing playgrounds around the Stadium if you have the time. Read all about them at:
On the return head back past Queens Gardens and follow Goderich Street west back to Cathedral Square to rejoin the Architecture walk. As an alternative to walking back you can get a train back to the city from Optus Stadium or a free CAT bus back to the CBD from Queens Gardens. We enjoyed walking as we found some heritage terrace houses, a mural by Brenton See and some other art works.
You could also cross back over Matagarup Bridge to explore Claisebrook Cove where you will also find many places to stop for a snack or a meal. Alternatively follow the Burswood river foreshore to the brand new Boorloo Bridge and cross Heirisson Island to Point Fraser.
If you enjoyed this read about the City of Perth's Icons of Influence Trail and the Big Boom Trail.
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In the spirit of reconciliation Out and About- Family Nature Connection acknowledges the traditional owners of the Wadjak boodjar (Perth land) and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
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