Rechabite Hall is a heritage-listed building in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, located at 224 William Street. It has operated as The Rechabite since 2019. It was constructed in 1924 for the

Independent Order of Rechabites The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab,Alan Axelrod ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'' New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p.206 is a fraternal organisation a ...

– a

friendly society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual org ...

and part of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

– and was a popular dance hall in the 1920s. It was also used for balls, exhibitions, church services, conferences, annual meetings, school productions, and as an election polling station. The hall was also a theatre venue and live music venue until it was damaged by a fire in 1980. The street level remained in use as shops. The building closed in the early 2000s in a state of disrepair. In the interim, performances were still held there in the early 2000s. The building was listed on the

City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

's heritage list in 2001, and on the

State Register of Heritage Places The State Register of Heritage Places is the heritage register of historic sites in Western Australia deemed significant at the state level by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. History In the 1970s, following its establishment of the ...

in 2002. In 2016, approval was given for a $3 million refurbishment, and it re-opened in November 2019 as four venues: a rooftop bar, a basement club, a performance hall and an eatery. Rechabite Hall was designed by architect

Edwin Summerhayes Edwin Summerhayes (1868–1944) was an Australian architect, founding member of the West Australian Institute of Architects, and a major in the 44 Infantry Battalion, serving in France from 1916 to 1917. Summerhayes was born in 1868 in Greenwich, ...

, as his last major work, in the Inter-War Free Classical style. The facade, entry foyer and hall are particularly noteworthy examples of the style; other significant architectural features include the entry hall's mosaic tile floor, main

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

staircase, and the main hall's vaulted ceiling – extensively lined with pressed metal embossed decorative patterns. The hall is in a generally sound condition, with a moderate degree of historical integrity and authenticity. Damage from the 1980 fire is evident, and there have been some internal modifications made in the basement and the northern shopfront.

References

{{reflist William Street, Perth State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Perth