Beauty in Impermanence – Postal Hall by Trower Falvo Architects
Through clever conceptual counterpointing, Trower Falvo Architects worked alongside Alessio Fini to explore the duality of permanence with a new demountable bookshop in the heart of Postal Hall at Perth’s State Buildings complex.
Having existed primarily as a high-volume pedestrian thoroughfare between the State Buildings, the grand space of Postal Hall has largely remained under-utilised as a potential commercial space. Practical concerns, along with the inherent changing programmatic requirements of the space, have always made the idea of a permanent structure troublesome.
In response, Trower Falvo Architects, along with collaborator Alessio Fini, have taken this project to explore the idea of beauty in impermanence and redefine this civic gateway with a centralised demountable bookshop. Through a series of small-scale connecting mobile elements, the designers have enabled all the practical and functional requirements of the commercial space while allowing for the building’s ever-changing public use.
The mobile elements themselves are made from lightweight materials – tubing, cross clamps, key rings and wire cables, with a perforated white scrim pulled taught across. The design comes together when viewed from above, with its feather-light ‘kite’ box appearance acting as a conceptual counterpoint to the building’s more permanent, foundational materials.
The design comes together when viewed from above, with its feather-light ‘kite’ box appearance acting as a conceptual counterpoint to the building’s more permanent, foundational materials.
