Jubilee Building, Federation architecture museum building in Perth, Australia
The Jubilee Building is a Victorian Byzantine style structure forming part of the Western Australian Museum in Perth. Designed by George Temple-Poole and supervised by John Harry Grainger, it opened in 1899. Hackett Hall, which housed the Public Library, stands immediately west of it.
The Jubilee Building was planned in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee as a combined library, museum and art gallery on St Georges Terrace, a site abandoned by 1894. A new site near James and Beaufort Streets was chosen beside the old Perth Gaol, and construction began in 1897 to designs by George Temple-Poole, supervised by John Harry Grainger. It opened in 1899, and the museum had already moved into the basement before completion.
The building's name recalls Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee of 1887, the event the project was first planned to mark. It was still called the Victoria Public Library while under construction in 1897. It now forms part of the Perth Cultural Centre alongside Hackett Hall, which housed the Public Library immediately to its west.
The building sits at the corner of James Street and Beaufort Street where it is easy to find. Access is through the open terrace that serves as the main entrance to the museum complex.
The museum's collections began in the basement of the building even before the structure was officially completed in 1899. This early use shows how important the building was to developing the museum's holdings from the start.
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