Perth Voice Interactive

IN reply to our article last week on the new design for the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, reader David Beetson reminds us there was another design for the PCEC that was kept “hidden” from the public.

As recounted in our story “Farewell Comrade” (Voice, January 20, 2024) the current PCEC built in 2004 is pretty widely considered an unattractive building.

But Mr Beetson reminds us it didn’t have to be that way.

“You’re forgetting the Norman Foster option hidden from the public for 20 years,” Mr Beetson told us via perthvoiceinteractive.com.

Back in 2000 when the Court government was seeking a builder for the centre, a few designs were being seriously considered.

One allegedly dazzling riverfront design was put forward by the firm headed by Sir Norman. 

The British architect had previously designed many other international drawcards, including the restoration of Germany’s Reichstag and the Hearst Tower in New York. 

At the time the Labor opposition was dead keen on bringing in Foster, figuring his star power would bring more tourists to Perth. 

But in a closed-door session, a Court government task group opted for a more modest proposal and awarded Multiplex the tender to build a design by local architectural firm Cox. 

Years later in parliament, now-retired Liberal MP Kim Hames revealed the logic behind the decision. 

“The problem was an enormous difference in cost,” Mr Hames told parliament in 2017. “We were in the middle of the South-East Asian crisis at the time, so finances for the state were very poor. 

“It was decided that we badly needed a convention centre for tourism. The cheaper design was chosen at the time.”

Images of Foster’s model are vanishingly rare, and may be classed as “lost media” that no longer exists.

We have heard whispers that photos taken of the model are occasionally passed around between elders in the local architectural appreciation circles, but we’ve not been able to confirm their existence. 

Descriptions are as glowing and ephemeral as the supposed eyewitness accounts of El Dorado, describing a silver-walled, possibly domed but certainly round, shining landmark that connected to the river. 

If anyone has an image of the Foster model, or a clue to track one down, please get in touch via news@perthvoice.com.

by DAVID BELL