Gordon Stephenson House
2007-2010 - Gordon Stephenson House, Cnr William and Wellington Streets, Perth, WA
Gordon Stephenson House is one of Perth s most influential recent commercial developments, being located over the underground platform of the Perth Railway station known as Perth Underground, and including an entrance to it. The complex has three office towers ranging from 6 to 19 storeys with two basement car parking levels. Two retail levels offer 6,500 square metres of commercial space while the remaining office space of 35,500 square metres has been leased by the State Government.
The site of Gordon Stephenson House was originally a retail complex that included the old Baird s, Globe and Wellington buildings and, at one stage, the old Boan s department store. The original Baird Arcade ran from Wellington Street to Murray Street through this site.
Careful consideration has been given to the scale, texture, activity, heritage, streetscape and urban grain enabling the development to make an honest contribution towards city place-making. A different approach to commercial tower design lead to the conventional tower being conceived as separate buildings, each enveloping and shading the other and stepping down in scale towards Murray Street Mall to respect the adjacent existing heritage-listed Perth General Post Office building and to allow sunlight to enter the mall. Everything about this development has a strong focus of sustainability. This minimises energy and water consumption, material use, and makes the most of natural light. High rise winter gardens and roof top landscapes are other benefits for the people who work in the building.
The ground plane of the development has been designed as a series of laneways with the building above and around them offering interesting views to the surrounding streets, malls, building facades and the sky. A reconfigured laneway leads from Gordon Stephenson House between Albert Facey House and the grand old Post Office building to the revitalised Forrest Place, providing further connectivity to the precinct.
The development is above the Perth Underground Train Station and train tunnel, making the design and construction process very complex. The Wellington Buildings, on the corner of Wellington and William Streets, form an important part of the fabric of this development. Once, these buildings sat on natural ground, today, they are above the railway station.
Gordon Stephenson House is one of Perth s first Green Star developments. It not only achieved but exceeded all aspects of the developer Cbus Property s project requirements, which included obtaining the certification for five star Green Star Design with a score of 71 points. The building also achieved a five star As-Built rating.
The building is named after urban planner Professor Gordon Stephenson (1908-1997), who made a profound contribution to the planning and development of the city of Perth.
Professor Stephenson was born in Liverpool in the United Kingdom in 1908, graduating as an architect from the University of Liverpool in 1930. He came to Perth in 1953 following a commission from the W.A. Government to prepare a long term plan for the metropolitan region of Perth and Fremantle with J.A. Hepburn. The resulting report, "Plan for the metropolitan region, Perth and Fremantle, Western Australia, 1955: a report prepared for the Government of Western Australia", was also known as the Stephenson-Hepburn Report. It became the blueprint for the development of Perth, and much of the infrastructure built over the last 50 years, such as the Kwinana and Mitchell Freeways, and the present suburban corridors, were created as a direct implementation of the plan. After four years in Toronto, Canada, Professor Stephenson returned to Perth in 1960 with his wife Flora and their three daughters to become professorial consultant architect to the University of Western Australia, later becoming inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in 1966.
He later served on the National Capital Development Committee and was a partner in the site plan for Murdoch University. He delivered a number of major planning reports in the 1970s and was awarded a CBE in 1967 and honorary doctorates from four Australian universities.
