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The Moores Building

This wonderfully restored heritage building is now a contemporary art gallery in the west end of Fremantle showing diverse and changing exhibitions of West Australian art. Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery Moores Building Conservation Project

History

The Moores Building was the site of William Dalgety Moore's general merchant business, which began operating in 1868. Originally, the site contained a complex of buildings including a family cottage, later replaced by the town house, stables, warehouse, factory and office facilities.

It was a typical arrangement where the owners lived and conducted their commercial, business and production activities from the site. The architecture typically reflects Fremantle’s built environment at a prosperous period of WA’s history, constructed from local materials including; limestone blocks, sandstone bricks and sawn shingles. The building’s fine classical facade was constructed at the height of the Western gold rush in 1899 and it was designed to unify a number of the earlier buildings existing on site into a one, cohesive frontage.

In 1900 William Moore sold the business and while the building progressively deteriorated, it survived essentially intact when it was purchased by City of Fremantle in 1986.

Conservation

Today, the Moores Building represents a model of successful conservation, of one of the oldest and most significant surviving groups of buildings in the Metropolitan area.

Restoration was conducted by City of Fremantle over an eight-year period in two stages, commencing in 1986 and later in 1993. The project was made possible with a Commonwealth Government America’s Cup Grant, which supported the initial stage of a practical and thorough six-stage conservation process. This process was conducted in the spirit of National Estate conservation principles of the Burra Charter, in that; it is possible to make alterations and additions to a historic building, as long as the ‘new’ helps to retain and reveal the cultural significance of the ‘old’ and is compatible i.e. designed to create a harmonious ‘whole’.

Combination of conservation and innovative design solutions of the Moores Building, is a part of the City of Fremantle’s strategic heritage plan to extend the building’s economic life by providing new residential and business premises, while retaining its cultural significance. The warehouse continues to function as a public facility in providing full and varied use of the space for temporary exhibition of Visual Arts. The Moores Building enriches the community’s cultural needs and provides an economic facility, which benefits everyone.

In 1993 The Moores Project received the award of merit by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in conservation category and in 1994. It was awarded Western Australia recognition by the Heritage Council in the Heritage Conservation & Property Value category. Currently the City of Fremantle operates The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery from the premises.