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Parliament House 120th Western Facade Anniversary

28 July 2024
Stock image of Parliament House

Parliament House is one of the oldest civic buildings in the state and Sunday 28 July 2024 marks the 120th anniversary of the completion of original building, the Western façade on Harvest Terrace. Federation in style, it was built between 1902 and 1904.


During his time as Premier, Sir John Forrest (1890 – 1901), had an initial £25,000 starting price to build Parliament House. Forrest planned to build the chambers first and stated, ‘the rest will follow later’. Parliament House, the Harvest Terrace facade and two chambers, as well as temporary buildings of wood and iron, opened in 1904 at a cost of £35,623.


The initial design concepts for the building, limited to £100,000 for construction and drawn from an Australia-wide competition, were considered too palatial and rejected due to cost. Chief Architect from the Public Works Department, J.H. Grainger, was commissioned to prepare new plans for the building with a strict budget of no more than £100,000.


As a result of economic issues and other priorities arising from two world wars, Parliament remained unfinished for a further 60 years, with the city facing Eastern façade completed in March 1964. The Modernist architectural style is a contrast to the original plans for the completion of Parliament submitted over 100 years ago.

 

Join us for a tour of our iconic Parliament House.👇

https://bit.ly/toursWAParl