With the rapid increase in population and a resultant growth in crime rate during Western Australia’s gold rushes, Women’s Prison was extended in the 1890s and again in the first decade of the twentieth century. It continued to serve as a women’s prison until 1970, when the inmates were transferred to a new facility built at Bandyup, north-east of Perth. From 1970 until the Prison was decommissioned in 1991, the area was used as an education and assessment centre for male prisoners.
Women’s Prison has been linked to the West Workshops to form an extensive art and design facility which specialises in vocational art courses. A purpose designed jewellery studio, built in the former yard of the Women's Prison, allows the School to offer diploma level courses.
The jewellery studio was conceived as a new building which, while not replicating the complex and layered aesthetic of the surrounding buildings, reinterprets some of the material and spatial qualities of Women’s Prison. The studio was built on, rather than into, the earth affirming its removability and contemporary concrete slab and steel construction. In accordance with current conservation practice and the Fremantle Prison Conservation Policy, the new building integrates the requirements for future use while conserving both the fabric and the significance of Women’s Prison.
Extensive consultation over several years with the Department of Training has ensured that the WA School of Art and Design is not only a viable facility that will serve TAFE’s needs well into the twenty first century but one that retains the heritage significance for future generations.
The WA School of Art and Design in the Women’s Prison was financed by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Training and the Department of Contract and Management Services (CAMS). The masterplanning and schematic design for TAFE at the Fremantle Prison was prepared by the former Building Management Authority, now CAMS. Management services for the whole project were provided by CAMS. Philip McAllister Architect designed, documented and administered the project, while construction of the adaptation was carried out by Palmerston Building Company.
(Currently Houses: WA School of Art, Design and Media - TAFE)
Technical Diagrams
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© Fremantle Prison 2002
