Aquinas College

Child Places

• 02396 Administration Building and Chapel, Aquinas College

Statement of Significance

The following statement was prepared by the State Heritage Office for the inclusion of Place 2396 Aquinas College in the State Register of Heritage Places in 2010.

Administration Building and Chapel, Aquinas College, comprising the three storey brick and tile Inter War Gothic style Administration Building (1937; 1967; 1998) and single-storey stone and concrete Late Twentieth Century Organic style Chapel (1966), sited amongst a complex of school buildings, landscaped gardens, playing fields and bushland on the bank of the Canning River, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• the place was established from 1937 as an expansion of the Perth school run by the Christian Brothers, who were a significant contributor to education in the State from 1894 through the twentieth century, especially for Catholic boys;
• the Chapel is a rare and excellent example of a Late Twentieth Century Organic style church in Western Australia, featuring innovative use of traditional materials and a curved form and design to complement the natural setting;
• the Administration Building is a substantial example of Inter War Gothic style architecture, featuring a landmark central tower, pinnacles, belvedere and parapeted gables to the skyline, arched three-storey verandahs, well articulated vertical elements and white accents against red face brickwork;
• the Administration Building, a distinctive landmark visible from vantage points from across the Canning River, was designed by Michael Cavanagh of the prominent architectural firm Cavanagh & Cavanagh, and is a rare example of the firm designing in the Inter War Gothic style;
• the place demonstrates the educational philosophy of the Christian Brothers, in which sporting activities and a non-urban environment were considered major contributors to appropriate character development for boys, and their commitment to Catholic religious guidance for their students;
• the Chapel was one of the first Catholic buildings constructed in Western Australia in response to the impact of liturgical changes arising from the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, with its form and plan implementing the Council’s theological emphases on inclusiveness in worship;
• the Chapel is a rare example of a building using red Mount Barker stone, as the stone had a limited distribution and is no longer quarried; and,
• the Chapel and 1967 additions to the Administration Building were designed by architectural firm Henderson and Thompson.

Physical Description

Administration Building and Chapel, Aquinas College, nestled within 41.95 hectares of mature trees and virgin bushland, is part of an extensive school site bounded on the north by Roebuck Drive, Canning River on the south, Mount Henry Road and Kwinana Freeway on the west and Redmond Street on the east. The entrance to the school is marked by the cross from the church spire transferred from the Christian Brothers College in Perth following the demolition of that building in 1965.

The Administration Building (1937; 1967; 1998) and the Chapel (1966). The Administration Building is sited on a small rise, at the end of the main bituminous paved drive from Mount Henry Road, with commanding views across the Memorial Oval towards Canning River on the west. The central tower and belvedere is a distinctive local landmark in its own right as the impressive white against red brickwork structure is visually distinct amongst the trees and bushland when viewed from vantage points from across the Canning River.

To the north of the building is the Chapel, set within a grassed landscape. The setting of the Administration Building and Chapel are interspersed with mature trees comprising of jacarandas and eucalyptus trees. There is a concrete footpath from the rear of the Administration Building to the ramped entrance of the Chapel.

Administration Building - Exterior
Originally designed by Cavanagh & Cavanagh, the existing face brick and tile Inter War Gothic style building was constructed in several stages. The tower and whole of the south wing was constructed in 1937 to accommodate the Brothers’ residence, dormitories and classrooms. The north wing was later added to the north of the tower. This wing, anticipated in the original plans, was completed in 1967, designed by Henderson & Thompson to accommodate additional dormitories and administration. Deliberate efforts were made to design the north wing to echo the style, form and established materials of the original south wing, presenting visually, a three storey façade, which cleverly conceal what is actually a four storey building. Details and mouldings are highlighted in white against the red brickwork in garden bond though early photographs of the building indicated that all rendered details were not painted.

The prominent west façade of the Administration Building is elegantly composed, symmetrical and of high artistic merit. The facade features a landmark central tower and belvedere, which rises approximately a full storey above the rest of the building and defined on all corners by octagonal buttresses capped with crenellations. The parapets are similarly capped with crenellations on all four sides. The tower features large openings with rendered quoins, label moulds, decorative panels above openings and replacement aluminium framed windows on each floor level. At the base of the tower is a large archway and openings to the sides, with an intricate plaster embellishment with the words ‘Aquinas College’ incorporated into the design and openings on the sides. The arched opening was enclosed and side openings infilled with stained glass windows and doors in 1998. Flanking the tower on both sides are three storey arcaded verandahs and parapeted gables. The verandahs differ slightly in terms of scale and detailing on each level, visually emphasising the towering height of the building.

On the ground and first floor levels, semi circular arches supported on octagonal shafts and base are featured with paired Tuscan columns on rectangular pedestals on the second floor. It is evident that the existing vertical steel railings between the columns are replacements of recent origin, though it is not known when the original railings were removed. Based on documentary evidence, originally, the whole of the second floor was enclosed as a sleep out. The gables at the end of the north and south wings are almost identical in appearance, each features large centrally located opening with rendered quoins flanked by narrow openings on each floor level, octagonal corner buttresses capped with rendered pinnacles and finials, a small rectilinear opening and pediment and a decorative rendered finial at the apexes.
The facades are horizontally articulated with rendered stringcourses between each floor. On the north gable, dark tinted spandrel panels concealing the additional floor slabs are evident upon closer inspection. All original openings on the gables have been replaced with aluminium framed double hung windows and fanlights. The roofs are steeply pitched at about 50 degrees, covered with Marseilles pattern tiles with replacement gutters and rainwater downpipes. The difference in floor levels between the two wings is discernible on the rear facade of the building. The façade is kept simple, with minimal embellishments and verandahs running the entire length of both wings, separated by a parapeted gable. The original brick columned three-storey verandahs on the south wing are still intact, with all levels accessible by means of a concrete and steel staircase. On the north wing is a four-storey verandah with square concrete columns and vertical steel railings and an enclosed face brickwork staircase. The south façade of the south wing is given very little emphasis, composed of regularly spaced double hung windows on all levels and parapeted gables. An enclosed steel and glass structure housing a lift and staircase was added to the eastern end of the south wing as part of the 1998 refurbishment, connecting the Administration Building with the adjoining Murphy Wing.

Chapel
Exterior
The Chapel is a freestanding single-storey building constructed of local red stone (identified as Mount Barker stone), concrete and sheet metal roofing. Designed by prominent architectural firm Henderson & Thompson, the Chapel was completed in 1966 and displays characteristics of the Late Twentieth-Century Organic style. The Chapel is a bold and expressive building that exemplifies a modern approach to the design of a church and innovative use of established materials.

The Chapel has a triangulated form on plan, orientated along the east-west axis. It features an impressive sweeping curved wall of Mount Barker stone, on its west elevation. North and south walls comprise of a series of in situ concrete panels (chevron shaped on plan) and vertical, operable stained glass windows, gradually culminating to a semi circular corner on the east end, reminiscence of the apse in a traditional Roman basilica. This corner, with minimal articulation on its concrete wall plane apart from evenly placed fixed vertical stained glass windows, was given an appropriate prominence by a shallow dome surmounted in the centre by a tall crucifix. The two-tier sheet metal clad flat roof construction is concealed behind pre-cast concrete parapets, projecting well beyond the solid walls to form deep timber lined eaves. A freestanding belfry is located on the south-eastern corner of the Chapel.

The principal entrances into the Chapel are located on the west and south elevations. The west entrance is recessed, defined by a heavy cantilevered pre-cast concrete fascia between overlapping sections of a curved concrete wall and the massive red stone wall. On the southwest corner is a ramped entrance, set against the face of the red stone wall. Further to the east, on the south elevation, is a recessed entrance. Adjacent to the entrance is a short flight of steps leading to the sacristy. Each entrance is composed of double leaf doors of timber slats with stained glass inserts, flanked by large stained glass sidelights and fanlights with accentuated mullions.

Openings around the Chapel consist primarily of highlight stained glass windows with accentuated mullions, positioned immediately below heavy fascias, reinforcing the sense of inclusion and fortification. A less ceremonious entrance on the north elevation into the sacristy is elevated from the ground and accessed by means of a short flight of steps.

History

The following information is drawn from the Assessment Documentation prepared for the inclusion of Place 2396 Aquinas College in the State Register of Heritage Places in 2010.

The Canning River frontage remained largely undeveloped at the beginning of the twentieth century. Around 1880, Samuel August Salter (after whom Salter Point was named) worked as a sawyer and timber contractor on the peninsula, the earliest recorded non-Indigenous activity in the area.

The Congregation of Christian Brothers was founded in Ireland by Br Edmund Ignatius Rice with the purpose of educating boys from poor families. In 1843, the first Christian Brothers school in Australia opened in Sydney. Western Australia’s first Christian Brothers’ College (CBC), Perth, was opened, on the corner of St. George’s Terrace and Victoria Avenue, on 1 February 1894. Bishop Matthew Gibney was significant in the establishment of the school as he believed that access to education for the boys of Catholic families would empower Catholics to change their living conditions. CBC Perth, sometimes know colloquially as ‘the Terrace’, served as an educational institution for boys of Catholic families until its closure in 1961.

From as early as 1908, the need for expanded facilities, particularly for sports and boarders, lead to discussion within the CBC to relocate the Christian Brothers’ College Perth away from the city centre. The Catholic Rural Movement of the 1930s was an influence pm the eventual decision to relocate the College. The movement romanticised the bush as a simpler alternative to the overpopulation, unemployment, and hedonism of the town. It was the influence of Brother Paul
Keaney at the nearby Clontarf Orphanage who instigated the purchase of land from the Manning family at Mount Henry for the new school site.

Negotiations had begun in 1935 for four lots, 4, 9, 5 and 18 of Canning Loc 37, comprising 165 acres (66.8 ha) around Mt. Henry on the Canning River. The lots were bought for £9925.

Early in 1937 the work of clearing this ground was taken up, with boys from CBC Perth playing a major role. The foundation stone for the original Aquinas College building was laid on 11 July 1937. The building was designed by architect Michael Cavanagh, of Cavanagh & Cavanagh. The firm had a long association with the Catholic Church, designing hospitals, schools and churches in the period from 1895 to the 1930s. In April 1937, builders Snooks and Sons successfully tendered for the construction of the new college building at a cost of £21,350.

The name chosen for the new college was in recognition of St Thomas Aquinas, a great theologian of the Catholic Church and the design of the building drew from the CBC buildings in Perth and the nearby Clontarf buildings.

The primary function of the new school at Mount Henry was to provide for the boarders from CBC Perth. The first group of students, consisting of 160 boarders and 55 day boys, moved to Aquinas College for the beginning of the school year in 1938. Aquinas College originally served as an adjunct to CBC Perth but gradually the school formed its own identity. CBC Perth was closed in 1961 and a new college, ‘Trinity’, was established in East Perth.

Aquinas College was blessed by Archbishop Prendiville and officially opened by the State Governor Sir James Mitchell, on 27 February 1938. The first Headmaster was Brother Foley who remained at Aquinas for only one year. His position then transferred to Brother W. V. Green in 1939 who served until 1945.

When Aquinas College was first established, the school consisted of the portion which is south of the tower in the current Administration Building. This three-storey building accommodated the chapel, boarders, staff, classrooms and the associated services such as administration, bathrooms, kitchens and dining rooms. It was always intended that the Administration Building was to be added to, replicating the existing building as a mirror image on the north of the tower. It was not until the mid 1960s that the extensions to the Administration Building were completed.

Although the surrounding area had largely been unsettled bushland in 1938, by the 1950s the development of Manning decreased the geographical isolation of Aquinas College. The provision of public transport services to the area enabled an increase in the number of day students, who eventually outnumbered boarders.

Land in front of the Administration Building was dedicated as a Memorial Oval, opened on 11 November 1951, commemorating the loss of life during World War II. The Brother Foley Scoreboard, located on the Memorial Oval, was named after the first Headmaster. A grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes was erected in the grounds of Aquinas College during 1953.

Named after Brother V. I. Murphy, Headmaster from 1951 to 1956, the first major classroom block, the Murphy Wing, opened in 1955.

The site of Christian Brothers’ College, St. George’s Terrace, was relinquished to the Perth City Council during 1961, and CBC Perth was demolished in 1965. The cross from the roof of CBC Perth was salvaged, and in 1968 erected at Aquinas College in a position overlooking the bay. The cross was subsequently relocated to a position at the entrance to the school alongside concrete pillars that identify significant years in the history of the school and the Christian Brothers.
A new Science Wing was completed and opened during 1962. It was designed in consultation with science teaching staff, and buildings for the Aquinas College Junior School were opened during 1963.

The Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas was built in 1966 after some delay created by a lack of finances and the deliberate decision to wait for the outcomes of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) which would influence liturgical practice. Bishop McKeon and Bishop Goody combined to bless the Chapel and celebrate the first mass on 12 August 1966. The Chapel was designed by architectural firm Henderson and Thompson. The builder was Cyril Wildy, who had recently constructed the extensions to Parliament House, and the foreman of the project was Mr Warburton. The other contributors to the Chapel included: Paganin Brothers who built the wall and provided the marble for the sanctuary and the altar; Bill Broderick who provided the external finish of the wall; Ted Gowers and Albert Brown who designed and constructed the stained glass windows; art teacher Dan Mazotti who designed the Stations of the Cross; and Voitre Maredk from Adelaide who designed and created the copper work.

Extensions to the Administration Building, again designed by Henderson & Thompson, were opened during 1967. The extension provided a new boarding wing and new space for administrative purposes. The extension deliberately echoed the original building in its form so that it was visually a three-storey building as intended in the original plan. Internally the building had an additional floor.

Edgar le Blond Henderson and George Pruett Thompson worked on many projects for the Catholic Church. For Edgar le Blond Henderson this was a continuation of an association his father, architect Edgar Jerome Henderson, had established in the early 20th century.

Following completion of additions to the Administration Building in 1967, the surrounds were landscaped to a design prepared by landscape architect John Oldham.

During 1975, the Redmond Oval, established at the foundation of Aquinas College in 1937-38, was reconfigured. At the southern end of the oval, the Redmond Library was constructed and opened in 1976. The remaining portion of the oval became a rugby pitch and swimming pool.

A new senior classroom block with twelve classrooms, manual arts building, art centre, and gymnasium were completed during the early to mid-1980s. In 1984, Hans Arkveld created a sculpture in worked brick at the new hall gymnasium
complex and four new boarding houses were constructed in 1986-87.

In 1998, the Administration Building underwent refurbishment, designed by architects Peter Quinn and Associates. The main entrance to the Administration Building was changed from the central arch in the tower to the sides of the tower.

The school building stock continues to be altered and added to in response the demands of the curriculum, current standards and expectations of the school community. The Aquinas College Administration building and Chapel were included on the State Register of Heritage Places in 2010

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.