The eye-catching Attunga Flats in Subiaco.
Camera IconThe eye-catching Attunga Flats in Subiaco. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Subiaco’s Attunga Flats put on State Register of Heritage Places

Natalie HordovEastern Reporter

Attunga Flats, at 103 Thomas Street, was built in 1937 by Claude de Bernales.

Heritage Minister Albert Jacob said the building was a rare, intact example of the inter-war Art Deco style.

“Attunga was one of the first purpose-built flats built in Perth in the 1930s and reflects the changing economy and social practices in the inter-war period,” he said.

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“Economic factors, such as the Depression, prompted the introduction of cheaper, multi-storey apartments to Australia in the 1920s and 1930s.”

The slender three-storey building was built by the General Construction Co, which was established by Mr de Bernales to undertake “high class work, with the finest materials, using expert workmen and designers”.

In the 1930s, the company also built London Court and Piccadilly Theatre and Arcade, and extensively renovated Mr de Bernales’ home Overton Lodge, now the Cottesloe Civic Centre.

Attunga Flats is thought to have been designed by renowned WA architect Marshall Clifton, who also designed Captain Stirling Hotel in Nedlands.

The building has six distinctive curved balconies that look out to Kings Park and an eye-catching zig-zag frieze near its roof.

It has been used as residential apartments and retains many of its original fittings, including doors, fireplaces, and kitchen and bathroom fixtures. n