Plans to build a $40 million office building adjacent to the heritage-listed Bishop’s House on Mounts Bay Road have surfaced, a site owned by one of central Perth's biggest commercial property owners.
Plans to build a $40 million office building adjacent to the heritage-listed Bishop’s House on Mounts Bay Road have surfaced, a site owned by one of central Perth's biggest commercial property owners.
The development application, lodged by element, proposes the removal of seven trees and a driveway to make way for the construction of a 10-storey timber framed office building dubbed the Bishop’s See Garden Building.
The tower, which would have office, dining and tertiary education uses, would be built at a 5,800 square metre lot at 78-90 Mounts Bay Road owned by The Perth Diocesan Trustees, a body corporate linked to the Anglican Church.
But it is not yet clear whether the church is spearheading the proposal.
The applicant has also sought a dual use approval for the commercial floorspace which would allow it to be leased to potential office tenants or tertiary education and training operators.
The site is home to the Bishop’s House, a two-storey Victorian Georgian style brick and tile residence built in 1859 with landscaped gardens, terraced lawns and pathways.
The site is considered to be significant because of its role in the establishment of Perth and is the only remaining Victorian Georgian style residence in the city.
The iteration is the second to be lodged, after the first proposal was rejected by the state’s Heritage Council because it was considered a visually dominant structure that would ‘overpower’ the Bishop’s House.
The City of Perth has already given the latest proposal, designed by Donaldson Boshard Architects, its tick of approval.
But the plan will also require the assent of the state’s planning commission if it is to proceed, as it is subject to the requirements of the Parliament House Precinct Policy.
The development application is expected to be considered when the Perth Local Development Assessment Panel meets on December 20.
Any approval would be subject to conditions which would require the monitoring of any structural movement and potential vibration impacts on Bishop’s House prior to and during construction, a dilapidation survey and an archaeological watching brief.
