St. George's Terrace Heritage Screen

Artists Concept

1.0 CONCEPT

The concept was developed as a result of the necessity to obscure unsightly rear views of the buildings directly adjacent to the re-development area. These three story high screen wall murals designed for St. Martins re-development project were inspired by the practical requirements of the site itself and the historical significance of the existing buildings and its place in the heart of Perth CBD.

2.0 Requirements:

2.1 Obscuring of undesirable elements in direct view of the windows of the new development.

2.2 Allowance for natural light to illuminate the space.

2.3 Construction from lightweight materials, resulting in stand-alone ‘art-screens’ which will function effectively on both East and West Elevations.

2.4 Creation of a theme, which would echo the Original historical ethos of the building while harmonising with the current and future use of this space in the new Millenium.

3.0 Design:

The design utilised the latest CAD technology to produce a ‘look’ which has an air of immediacy, pertinent to the use of the proposed office space, while using themes that can comfortably resonate with the past use of this area, in the heart of Perth C.B.D.

The whole effect is achieved by taking the original ethos of this building, which has been a cinema for 100 years, and creating an ‘art deco’ ambience which reflects the architectural style of the period, the era of great cinema architecture-1920's and 30’s.....the ‘golden years of Hollywood’...... and translate that into the present.

Essentially, the mural-screens are a modular ‘ mirror’ of the proposed new elevation of the building and provide a narrative based architectonic response to the clients brief.

This response is ‘ layered’ on three levels corresponding to the three floors of the building and loosely based upon the concept of stratified historical images and motifs. Each decorative ‘ window ‘ ( which will correspond exactly with the real window across the courtyard ) acts as virtual space or screen upon which will be ‘metaphorically’ projected images celebrating the historical evolution of the site and its unique function within the development of Perth as a modern dynamic city.

The original building functioned as a cinema for almost 100 years, as already mentioned, the scope for narrative imagery is endless. It could be said that these enormous screens are essentially a case of ‘Art imitating Art imitating Life’.

The ground floor level

The‘windows’ in the screen would contain images from the Foundation of Perth in 1829,

The first floor,

This would capture fleeting glimpses of people and advents at the turn of the Century.

The third floor

The theme would continue up through the years to the present day.

The ‘ windows ‘ are framed by Art-deco style borders to give a movie theme atmosphere. The design of these snap-shot, transient images are highly stylised with complementary abstract Art-deco designs forming connecting elements between features.

4.0 Construction:

The integrity of the Murals are designed by a qualified Structural Engineer to the highest possible standards and safety. They are built entirely in stee and powder-coated to match, exactly the finish already specified by the architect on the main building itself. All facings, cut-outs, motifs etc will have a 50 mm return on all edges to ensure absolute rigidity while, at the same time, providing a visually satisfying sense of thickness and solidity to the Mural.

Each of the Art Screens were first individually hand drawn and assembeled for the cutting as seen below, based on the Heritage of St Georges Terrace Perth.

Mary Raine 1900

shop assistant 1900