and Open House Perth 2013

Open House Perth

Over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of November, I joined thousands of other Perthites and visited some of Perth's most iconic buildings during Open House Perth. I was only free on the Sunday, so I looked on the website and made a small itinerary for myself. I decided on 3 places with time to visit any others that took my fancy on the way around.

My first stop at 10.30am was the Parliament House of Western Australia. Parliament House looms over the freeway and I always thought it looked like it was simply stuck on the side of a hill. From the city side, the building’s façade is from the 1960’s, showing modern lines with simple columns extending the three stores to the roof line. The façade facing Harvest Terrace is in its original form from 1904. The tour was run by one of the office workers and took us from the foyer, upwards to the second level and then around into the older part of the building. From here we walked on to the floor of the Legislative Assembly Chamber. The Perth chamber is the only blue chamber of its kind. Traditionally the colour should be green and the Legislative Council Chamber is red.

Ceiling in the Legislative Assembly Chamber.

After leaving the Legislative Assembly Chamber we walked through the members area and into the dining room and then back along the hall into the President of the Legislative Council's office.

The Presidents office.

That sketch is of the original façade concept.

We headed upstairs and into the viewing area of the Legislative Council chamber. Both chambers have beautiful original stained glass windows which used to open before the rooms where air-conditioned.

The next stop was the parliament library. I love the coffered ceilings and the pendant lights in this room. It felt very old English in this room, with a fire places at both ends and the dark timber throughout.

We then headed out the opposite end of the library, walking in a large loop towards the front of the building again, via the walkway around the courtyard. 

The back of the original building.

The last part of the tour was back in the new building and to the newly completed aboriginal meeting room. The glass above the wall was created by the women of the local aboriginal people, while the glass in the door was made by the men. It was a fantastic contrast to the original glass in the older section of the building.

After the tour finished, I completed a lap around the building to see the front and to also have a quick wander through the gardens.

Old façade.

New façade.

I walked back across the bridge over the freeway and around past Barrack's arch. The rest of the barrack was removed to create room for the new freeway.

From here I walked to Terrace Hotel for lunch, well in this case, all day breakfast. On Sundays only breakfast and a tapas menu are available as the Terrace Hotel also servers High Tea at the same time.

Tea for one.

Pancakes with honeycomb butter, strawberries and maple syrup.

Chandelier in one of the private dinning rooms.

Another private dining room with it's own wine cellar.

The third of the private dining rooms.

After lunch I walked to the Bishop's House, destination number 2, where I had a wander around the garden before heading for a walk towards the malls in the CBD until my next destination opened up.

On my way back up St Georges Terrance, I stopped in at Theobroma for some afternoon tea.

Cute little truffles and some macarons.

My next stop was the First Church of Christ Scientist, which is opposite the Barrack Arch. It is a cute Art Deco building which I have always been interested in, so I was so glad that it was open for the day.

Cute light in the entry hall.

We sat in the pews and listened to the organ player. My eyes kept wandering around the room looking at the features on the roof and on the walls. We were told by the tour guide, a life long member of the church, that one of the doors at the front of the church was actually false. They installed the false door to keep a symmetrical look.

We then headed out the front and learned about the construction of the building as well as a few facts about the garden that used to surround the front and how there is a road below the church.

From here I decided to add another stop into my trip around Perth. I headed over to the new development over the newly sunken train line between the city and Northbridge.

I had such a fun day walking around. By the end of it all I was pretty hot and tired. The last stop was definitely the killer. Standing out by the road and surrounded by all that concrete in the middle of the afternoon, I had defiantly had enough. I had also walked quite a long way, back and forth across the city. But, all in all, I had a fantastic time and ate so much great food!

Until next time.

Love, love Elle.