Perth’s Elizabeth Quay is a still-unfolding, allegedly “transformative” development.
(you may be unsurprised to know that it is impossible to find any reliable, properly inclusive figure on expenditure to date, let alone of the eventual total. Suffice that its likely-tallest tower component – which involves just two of many edifices – is estimated at more than one billion Australian dollars)
It is probably our final instance of an Australian megaproject, named after “our” Queen.
According to DevelopmentWA, This landmark waterfront development reconnects Perth city with the Swan River to create a dynamic new entertainment and leisure precinct, set around a stunning 2.7ha inlet.
According to one recent Singaporean visitor, Nothing much to see here,…Boring walk from Elizabeth Quay to Barrack Jetty as well. Your best bet would be to take the Transperth ferry to South Perth for better views of the city.
Of course, responses to just about any “big project” range from delight, through indifference, to revulsion, via “too soon to say” responses of the “let’s withhold judgement until it is completed/has had time to settle in” kind.
Consider Canberra’s signature, artificial lake – initially a much-reviled, hideous scar on the local landscape, Lake Burley Griffin is now much-loved, its shores are lined by mature trees, and the lake now looks like it “belongs”.
That said, I am not convinced that Elizabeth Quay will ever amount to much more than a third-rate attempt to give Perth a “Singapore-ish” waterfront precinct.
Even if my hunch proves sadly “correct”, the largely-banal “Betty’s Jetty” already offers some visual delights.
All photos were taken between 2.05 and 2.25 pm on June 1, 2022.
The featured image looks east, from the western side of the quay; we had just caught the ferry back from South Perth, where we’d enjoyed a lovely lunch and our encounter with “Sudan”.
From almost the same vantage point, the image below gives a closer view of part of the Quay’s eastern side, plus Barrack Square’s “signature” buildings.
Barrack Square and Elizabeth Quay are “neighbours”, but via a deal of poor planning, they do not really “talk” to each other.
Hilton’s Perth waterfront hotel and “Dick’s dick” (the unkindest of various nicknames bestowed upon the Bell Tower) are both on Barrack Square.
Elizabeth Quay was Colin Barnett’s pet project, whilst the Bell Tower was Richard Court’s. They were Liberal Premiers of WA, respectively, 2008-2017 and 1993-2001.
Both Premiers viewed their pet project as “transformative”, as something which would “symbolise” Perth to the world at large…hmmmm…wishing for one’s own “Sydney Opera House” or “Eiffel Tower” – and attempting to deliver one – will likely leave Perth’s yearning still-unrequited.
Completed in 1999, the Bell Tower is one of the world’s biggest musical instruments.
It is also one of the most accessible.
The tower is rather shorter than envisaged, but its “Swan Bells” are the world’s second biggest set of change ringing bells.
It’s older bells were a gift to Australia, “rescued” from St Martin-in-the-Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square; the oldest of them is a deal more than twice as old as the post-1788 version of Australia.
Discover more, here.
Meanwhile, nearby, Elizabeth Quay’s “big artwork” has stood 29 metres tall – circa 9 storeys high – since January 2016.
Spanda is the world’s tallest free standing carbon fibre construction; unexplained, its elegance is self-evident, but there is a lot of thought behind this “celebration of the union of the individual with the universal”.
Click this to discover what is behind its Sanskrit name, and how Spanda was made.
As you can see, immediately behind and above Spanda, more prosaic edifices are under construction.
In 2022, mobile phones go everywhere.
On the other side of The Esplanade, which stands between CBD and Elizabeth Quay, is a suitably bland car park.
However, its flawed/uneven but reflective “skin” does wonderfully “creative” things to some of Betty’s Jetty’s intrinsically-uninspiring edifices.
“Official” spruik on Elizabeth Quay
A more sceptical overview/history:
One “expert” estimation of its success, or lack thereof, with suggestions on how it could be improved.