P&O Building (fmr) (Orient Line Building, MAS Building, Malaysian Airlines)

When the Orient Company’s new building was opened in September 1930, Governor William Campion remarked on the “great services” the company had performed for Western Australia. The Orient Company was one of the major passenger and cruise liner companies servicing Australia from the late 1800s. It later merged with the Peninsula and Orient Company (P&O) to become the P&O-Orient Line. The building remained the local P&O headquarters until the 1980s, when the company withdrew most Australian services.

Following the discoveries of gold in Victoria, the Orient Line Company entered the Australian trade to meet passenger demand. Since it would carry third-class passengers, Orient was distinguished it from its major competitor, P&O, which catered only for first and second-class passengers.

In 1927, the Orient Line purchased three shops in William Street, a site strategically placed between the retail centre of Hay Street and the commercial district centred on St George’s Terrace. With the establishment of a branch office of the Orient Line, Perth now had the same representation as Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Tenders for the six-storey building, designed by Waldie Forbes from architectural firm Hobbs, Smith and Forbes, were called in late 1928 and work commenced the following March at a contract price of £41,073. The Orient Line Building was officially opened on 16 September 1930 by the Governor. After the “partaking of refreshments”, the group gathered on the company’s liner Ormonde, which was berthed at Fremantle Harbour. In addressing the gathering, the architect said they had endeavoured to use Western Australian materials as far as possible. The contractor, following Forbes’ lead, said the materials were 90 per cent Western Australian and it was constructed by local tradesmen.

At the time, the design was thought to be a “little bit away from usual architecture”, although it quickly became the standard in Perth. Using modern construction techniques of

a steel-frame with outer walls of concrete, concrete slab-floors, and steel window frames, the façade still had a traditional look with the use of Donnybrook stone and Darling Range granite. On the parapet were the words ‘Orient Line Building’ in bronze lettering. The model of the S.S. Oriana, which occupied almost the full width of the main display window, was popular with passing children.

The building dominated the streetscape, being twice as tall as any other building in the immediate vicinity. However, by the late 1930s, the building would be overshadowed by the adjacent Gledden Building, constructed on the corner of Hay and William streets.

Today, the building is leased to a variety of companies, but remains a striking example of steel and concrete construction technique with a traditional façade, as well as a reminder of when tall buildings in central Perth were unusual rather than the norm.

Daily News 16 September 1930