Council House
Council House is an 11 storey building that was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 25 March 1963. Civil engineer William Green was Perth City Council’s town clerk from 1945 and is credited with being the driving force behind the original project. It has been reported that Green was behind every important decision taken by the council. As an engineer he was quick to grasp essentials, as an architect he had a flair for seeing things as a whole, and as an administrator he believed in thorough preparation and research. He was either the designer or the adviser for practically every building constructed by the city council between 1944 and 1966.
The structural engineering for the innovative steel framed building was undertaken by D H Fraser, Consulting Engineers. As principal consulting engineer, Don Fraser developed the conceptual design while a young civil engineer, Tom Huuk, completed the detailed design work.
The major engineering challenge was the ground floor level, which was designed to give the impression that the building is floating. With only two columns per bay going across the building, all the floors above the first floor level had to be picked up on massive welded steel girders, sitting on the two columns with their ends cantilevered over on each side to carry the building’s façade on the north and south sides. The challenging design involved some critical welding of the plate girders and required minute checking.
While Council House is now regarded by experts as the best example of modernist architecture in Perth, there were periods when its future was in serious jeopardy. In the 1990s, just 30 years after its grand opening, there was a push to demolish the building, to return the area to its historic style of architecture. After fierce public debate, it was recognised that modern structures can hold heritage value, and after significant rectification and repair work, Council House was heritage listed in 2006.
