Dalgety Building
| Wilhelmsen House | |
|---|---|
Wilhelmsen House 2012
|
|
| Alternative names | Elders Building |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Federation Free Classical |
| Location | 32°03′19″S 115°44′32″E / 32.05531°S 115.7421°E |
| Address | 7-11 Cliff Street, Fremantle |
| Town or city | Fremantle |
| Country | Australia |
| Current tenants | Mediterranean Shipping Company |
| Construction started | 1902 |
| Completed | June 1902 |
| Opened | 29 August 1902 |
| Renovated | 2014 |
| Cost | £30,000 |
| Client | Dalgety and Company |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Talbot Hobbs |
| Main contractor | W.H. Vincent |
Wilhemsen House, also known as the Elders Building, Elder Building, Barwil House and the Dalgety & Co. Building, is a heritage building located at 11 Cliff Street on the corner of Phillimore Street in the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia. The building dates from the gold rush boom period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and is of historic significance.
The building is of Federation Free Classical style, containing French Renaissance elements with a skyline of a 70 feet (21 m) tower, gables. turrets and ornamental chimneys. The dominant feature on the skyline is the circular, domed, dragon's scale copper clad, turret. The general layout of the building is a U-shape with the open end of the U facing away from Cliff Street. It rests on a wide foundation of concrete, above which is Melbourne bluestone. Between the base and the first floor is Cottesloe stone; above this is constructed from brick and cement dressings. When constructed the building had 30,000 square feet (2,787 m2) of floor space. The floorboards were made of 2-inch-thick (5.1 cm) jarrah supported on 12-inch (30 cm) jarrah joists. The basement floor was made of cement. The warehouse had three floors and was 215 feet (66 m) long and 57 ft (17 m) wide with large sliding doors that opened directly onto the railway line side. Large flanking windows provided light for the interior. The warehouse was fitted with an electric wool press, three electric lifts and four travelling cranes to allow for swift dispatch of goods.
Currently the building has a total floor area of 1,700 square metres (18,299 sq ft) on a site with an area of 1,484 square metres (15,974 sq ft).
The building was built in 1902 for Dalgety and Company. At this time Dalgety were agents for companies including the Blue Funnel Line and W.A. Steam Navigation Company, whose ships sailed to Singapore via all northwest ports. When Fremantle Harbour opened in 1897 all the merchants and the shipping industry were looking for office and warehouse space near the new port area. The land at the site on Cliff Street was acquired by Dalgety and Co in February 1900, purchased from George Shenton.
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