Westgate is a 6 level, 10,605m² commercial office building on the prominent corner of Railway and Bagot Roads in the inner city suburb of Subiaco, in Perth Western Australia. The site was previously occupied by four derelict inner-war houses and a long abandoned corner deli. Its only neighbour is to the East in King Edward Memorial Hospital, with multi-residential lots to the South across Bagot Road.
The underlying principle behind the design of Westgate was to reactivate this corner of Subiaco and provide a community asset that will start the revitalisation of the immediate precinct. The program is determined by regulatory planning parameters and the alignment between the provision of car parking, street activation, public amenity and the financial viability of the functional commercial space.
The prominent corner of Railway and Bagot Roads is given due treatment with an elegant display of the light curtain wall floating past the heavier grounding South facade. This creates a pleasing sculptural juxtaposition of material and form.