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A Shed
From David Hutchison's Fremantle Walks, 2006:
A and B Sheds
These sheds were rebuilt in 1925-26 to cope with increase in the size of vessels and the greater tonnage of cargo handled. When constructed they were of the latest design and included facilities such as electric hoists and improved ventilation for the storage of perishable goods. During the America’s Cup (1986-87) the Australian Broadcasting Corporation set up an outside broadcasting van at B Shed to coordinate radio coverage nationally. From 1987 the WA Maritime Museum exhibited boats in the shed until the new Maritime Museum was constructed. It is the only shed on the quay with surviving dormer roofs intersecting the main roof, which adds to its aesthetic quality.
In 2005 B Shed was occupied by the Motor Museum and the offices of the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation and Rottnest Ferries; A Shed housed a wooden boat workshop.
Jack Kent describes A Shed in the 1991 report:
HISTORY
In 1925/26 'A' and ' B' Sheds were completely rebuilt to cope with the increase in vessel size and greater tonnage of cargo handled. The original sheds were built cl905 and were significantly smaller. 50,000 more tonnes were handled in the year June 1925 to June 1926, than in the previous financial year (FHT report 30/6/1926). 'A' Shed was said to be practically complete and ' B' Shed in a forward condition. They were constructed to the latest design and facilities including electric hoists which could handle up to 5 tonnes. Special attention was also paid to the ventilation of the two sheds based on experience gained with the storage of perishable goods in the older sheds.
In 1988 'A' Shed was converted into a venue for the visual, literary and performing arts. It was developed by Paul Hanna and opened to the public on 5/12/88 and included restaurant facilities.
CONSTRUCTION
'A' Shed is simple in form and construction, consisting of two main longitudinal compartments curving gently with the line of the wharf.
The timber roof trusses are supported on timber columns and clad in a variety of materials. The roof is covered in corrugated asbestos sheeting (the original roof may have been iron or even a timber roofing material as put on ' D' Shed in 1921). The external walls of 'A' Shed are clad in weatherboards up to approximately 3 metres from ground and then in corrugated pressed metal. The original timber joinery is largely intact and in a fair state of repair. A canopy runs the whole length of the building on the land side, which is supported by cantilevered trusses.
A photograph from the EHT Annual Report, 1961/62 showing a superimposed artists impression of the new F. P. A Building, shows A Shed with lateral dormer roof structures across the length of the building, as can be seen on B Shed today. These have subsequently been removed. The same photograph also shows a window in the western gable of A Shed which no longer exists.
ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The simple form and construction of A Shed is complemented by an unusually high standard of detailing for wharf architecture. The building, in essence, is industrial in character but is also attractive in its own right. It forms part of a group of similar wharf sheds that are constructed along the quayside and as such, are visually significant, both in terms of their aesthetic value and in defining the north western edge of the city centre and its interface with the Swan River.
Historically, the wharf goods sheds have been the most adaptable, and thereby successful survivors of the many buildings that have been constructed on the quay, and are consequently rich in physical evidence of past and present wharf activities. A Shed can therefore be seen as a very significant building on Victoria Quay.
In 2021 A Shed is a brewery/tavern/etc. of the Gage Roads Brew Company.
Machines clearing out the shed 20 October 2020: my snap.
Until 2020 the shed was mostly used for storage by the WA Museum, and specifically the Maritime Museum, which is adjacent. Most of the space was taken up by a collection of vintage boats. They have now gone into the Museum's storage facility in Welshpool.
... Below is a 2019 walk around A Shed as it then was on Victoria Quay/South Wharf Fremantle from the west via the north to the east.
In 2019, Fremantle Ports invited Expressions of Interest from potential lessees of A Shed, which was then tenanted by WA Museum (Maritime). These snaps attempt to represent the size and condition of the shed as @ 2019.
General view of the shed from the sea (western) end of the shed. 'Welcome Walls' displays right foreground. The bollards were formerly on the edge of the wharf and were actually used to tie up ships. Now they bar vehicular access to the west end of Victoria Quay.
The (ladies?) toilet block at this western end of the shed is currently unavailable, despite an old sign at the eastern end indicating that it is.
This is one of the three or four doors Museum staff use to enter the building.
The western end again, showing the immediate proximity of the access road, which is also a bus route.
View from the front door of the Maritime Museum.
A Shed's view of its owner. ... It has lost the R out of its Scrabble set name (top detail).
On the wharf, the northwestern end of the building.
The windows are tinted so you can't see inside with the naked eye. However, if you press the camera against the glass, it ignores the tinting, and gives you some idea. They would be old boats underneath the tarps, remnant of an earlier exhibition in B Shed.
Halfway along the shed. 'The Docks' might have been the name of the coffee shop that was in the eastern end of the shed for a while. I loved it being there, and was quite disappointed when it closed.
Looking east to west, and showing the close proximity of the free 'Cat' bus stop.
A final view, from the east again. The 'heritage' workshops on the left of the photo are used by Fremantle Ports. The sign underneath the A with the arrow suggests that there are 'ladies toilets' <- that way. Ladies will have a long and disappointing walk.
Fremantle Herald, October 2019.
A Shed 'Opening Night' 1988, photo courtesy Alan Pearce, Fremantle Ports, via Facebook.
Around 1989, there was a cafe in the eastern end of A Shed.
A Shed Cafe. Photo courtesy Alan Pearce, Fremantle Ports, via Facebook 2023.
References and Links
Hutchison, David 1999, 'Shedding light on sheds in transit', Fremantle Studies, 1: 66-76.
Hutchison, David, 'Walk 1: Victoria Quay', Fremantle Walks.
Hutchison, David, Jack Kent, Agnieshka Kiera, Russell Kingdom, Larraine Stevens, Tanya Suba, 1991, Victoria Quay and its Architecture its History and Assessment of Cultural Significance, City of Fremantle; Part II: Jack Kent: 'Architectural evaluation of existing buldings and assessment of their cultural significance', 54 pp. These are pp. 22-23.
Garry Gillard | New: 10 October, 2019 | Now: 22 October, 2023
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally hosted at freotopia.org/port/ashed.html, and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.