Alexander Buildings, Mt Lawley

According to Mouth Lawley - A Brief History of the Suburb, this building on the corner of Beaufort & Walcott Streets were originally built by architect, Simon Alexander, in 1911 and was known as the Broadway Building. Simon's son, John, put an Art Deco façade on the structure in 1938 and it now bears the name Alexander Buildings.

Reference:
Mouth Lawley - A Brief History of the Suburb, Town of Vincent Local Studies, 2005

Astor Theatre, Mt Lawley

The Astor Theatre in the Perth suburb of Mt Lawley started life in 1919 as The Lyceum. At the time, architect, builder and owner, Simon Bremner, claimed it was the coolest building in Western Australia due to the ventilation installed in the theatre. The current operators claim it is still one of the coolest buildings in WA in a less physical meaning of the word.

By 1930, the venus had become the State Theatre and State Summer Gardens with extensive renovations coking later in the 1930s. The gardens survived until 1970 but the State lost it's name in 1941 due to a State Givernment decree that private enterprises couldn't use that name. The Astor was born.

Over time the building has been split in two showing Adult films and Italian language films, hosted bingo and karate lessons before being Heritage Listed in 1988 when threatened with demolition.

The theatre was refurnbished in 1991 and currently is used for both films and live concerts.

Reference:
Astor Theatre website

Beaucott Buildings, Mount Lawley

Often buildings are named after their owners but in the case of the Beaucott Buildings, in the busy Perth suburb of Mount Lawley it is the cross-streets, Beaufort and Walcott, that contribute to the building's name.

According to the Media Statement issued in May 2001 when the building was placed on the Heritage Register in Western Australian, the original single storey building was built in 1905 and consisted on shops and residences.

In 1937, architect William G Bennett was engaged to upgrade the building resulting in the Art Deco structure the now dominates the corner.

Bennett's design allows the building to wrap around the corner with a main shop doorway at street level and a stepped parapet bearing a small fin. A rendered cream panel bears the building's name in an approriate art deco font.

A practical element for Perth's hot summer climate is the eyebrow which runs the entire width of the building providing shade for the row of second storey windows.

Mt Lawley Frock Shop

This cafe in the Perth suburb of Mt Lawley isn't that deco but the signage showing the former purpose of the building is just wonderful.