Perth College Girls School
Clients: Perth College Girls School
Architects: Donaldson & Warn (now With_Architecture Studio)
Artist: Pamela Gaunt
Fabricator: Sign Supplies
Location: Mount Lawley, Perth, Western Australia
Date: 2009

The two areas identified for the artwork were the balustrade and canopy that face onto Beaufort Street, Perth and the canopy above the lift.

Design Concept
The balustrade pattern intervention was intended to work harmoniously with the geometry of the architecture. It was conceived to appear restrained from the exterior of the building and more colourful and elaborate from level one.

The coloured section on the building face of the balustrade mirrors the brick pattern chosen by the architects for the new extension. The coloured geometric pattern is blurred by the sandblasted glass sheet floated 20mm in front. Whilst the artwork is mostly industrially produced, it was intended that there was a ‘hand quality’ to the aesthetic appearance. The glass patterns on the balustrade & the canopies were created by hand-cutting mask-out rubber stencils. The coloured sections of the canopy pieces are ‘positive’ patterns of the negative cut-outs from the balustrade.

It was also intended that the balustrade capture different lighting conditions and throw interesting shadows along the exterior and interior of the classrooms. Under certain seasonal and weather conditions, the sunlight will cause interesting refractions as it passes through the balustrade holes and then the glass.

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