A development application has been lodged to transform three buildings within Perth's fifty-year-old St Martins Centre, a prominent commercial and retail complex at 40-50 St Georges Terrace.
Developed by St Martins Properties in the 1970s, the six-building complex is anchored by St Martins Tower at 44 St Georges Terrace, an office building completed in 1976 that was once the tallest building in Western Australia and features the state's only rotating restaurant. Under the plans, the tower will be converted into a 243-room "lifestyle hotel", with office space retained on lower floors, a new sky bar on the top floor and a new podium accommodating a rooftop pool club and lifestyle facility overlooking Hay Street Mall.
Designed by Woods Bagot with landscape architecture by Aspect Studios, the plans primarily focus on the adaptive reuse of three commercial buildings. In addition to St Martins Tower, two buildings at 40 and 50 St Georges Terrace will be repurposed to introduce new retail, commercial, wellness and hospitality offerings. The ground level of the precinct will also be upgraded with a new north-south St Martins Lane pedestrian link, and improvements to the existing forecourt along St Georges Terrace featuring landscaping and public-friendly elements intended to create a welcoming entrance.
The project will involve the internal refurbishment and adaptive reuse of the heritage-listed McNess Royal Arcade (1897) at 611-619 Hay Street Mall and the Bridal House (1902) at 621 Hay Street Mall.
Woods Bagot Principal Eva Sue said the arcade will be reinstated as an inter-precinct connector for public use. "Heritage and sustainability work hand in hand. By restoring these buildings, we're saving significant embodied carbon while creating a finer-grain urban fabric that strengthens pedestrian connections," said Sue.
