Dumas House

Dumas House is a fourteen-storey public office building opened in 1965. Constructed in the Post-War International style, it was built by the State Government and has been occupied by various Government departments since opening.

From the late 1920s, the Government had planned to create a central government office complex on a landscaped site. A number of reports over the next decades made various recommendations, but nothing was ever undertaken. The issue was again considered in 1955, when the influential Stephenson-Hepburn Report recommended a government office complex on Mt Eliza. The site extended from Kings Park Road in the south, to Hay Street in the north, and from Harvest Terrace in the east to Havelock Street in the west.

Due to the economic prosperity experienced in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the State Government could act on many of the recommendations in the Stephenson-Hepburn Report. Construction projects commenced on the Narrows Bridge and Mitchell Freeway and subsequent development of the area around Parliament House. As part of these projects, the old Barracks building, which was the home of the Public Works Department and the Metropolitan Water Board, was demolished.

In May 1961, the State Government announced a competition for the design of a group of office buildings. Sixty-seven entries were received and first prize of £5,000 was won by Public Works Department (PWD) architects, G. Finn, E. Van Mens & P. Maidment. The design required the land to be cleared of all existing buildings and the sloping site levelled. While five buildings were planned, only the first was to be built immediately. The Government took advantage of the vacated Observatory and Hale School buildings and occupied them as additional offices.

Construction of the Government Building (as it was first known), began in late 1963 and was completed in 1965. Premier David Brand spoke about the importance and symbolism of the place:
All over Perth today,and in many country towns, the old is making way for the new. Buildings are being taken down and buildings are rising… Out of buildings like this one will come plans for more dams, more harbours, more water systems, more schools, more hospitals, more roads, more power supplies – all harnessing the State for the progressive development of private people.

The promenade deck on the 14th floor (Legacy Lookout) became a tourist attraction and money raised from visitors provided a source of revenue for charity. The first occupants of the Government Building were the 1,300 employees of the Public Works and Country Water Supply Department and the Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Board.

In July 1968, it was reported that the Government had scrapped the plans to continue with the development of the site. The remaining four buildings were cancelled. Parliamentarians felt that five large buildings on such a prominent site would give the appearance of “dominance by the bureaucracy”, and traffic was already a problem with only one building. This decision also meant that the Observatory and the Hale school buildings were no longer under threat of demolition. In 1985, the Observatory was vacated and given to the National Trust for use as its headquarters.

In 1978, Government Building was named Dumas House in honour of Sir Russell Dumas (1887-1975), former Public Works Department Director of Works and Buildings. Today it continues to be occupied by a number of government departments.