Central Chambers, Heritage site in Fremantle, Australia
Central Chambers is a Federation Free Classical building in Fremantle with decorative stucco arches and paired first-floor windows framed by pilasters. The structure sits on a rusticated bluestone base and houses retail spaces within its classical design framework.
Central Chambers was built in 1906–1907 for George and William Silas Pearse on a site occupied since the 1850s by William Pearse's butcher shop, later a Georgian building with a she-oak shingled roof. Architect Frederick William Burwell designed it and Richard Rennie was the contractor. It was restored in 1991.
The name Central Chambers appears in stucco on the first-floor façade. The building was commissioned by George and William Silas Pearse, members of a family whose butcher shop, run by William Pearse, had stood on the site since the 1850s. In 2016 its tenants included the fashion store Love in Tokyo and the Djurra Spa beauty treatment centre.
The building sits at the corner of High and Pakenham Streets in the city center and is easy to find on foot. Various retail shops operate inside, and you can view the classical architecture from the street.
A fire broke out on the second storey in 1954 and was brought under control in about 20 minutes, causing damage estimated at well over £A 2,000, equivalent to about A$78,339 in 2022. The original entrance, set between the shops, keeps its stained glass leadlight sidelights and French doors.
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