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The home of the former Guildford Post Office is set to be revived as a café and restaurant that pays homage to its heritage.
State planning officials gave the green light on Thursday to Bilgoman Property to refurbish the state heritage-listed building with plans to serve food and drinks by this time next year.
Built in 1897 at 2/121 James St, the main portion of the building was home to Australia Post for 120 years, with a clock tower addition added in 1901.
Australia Post operated out of the location until 2019, when Poste café and garden centre took over until 2024.
The development application submitted to the Outer Joint Development Assessment Panel reveals demolition and conservation works would be done before the venue opened.
The restaurant and café has been designed to accommodate 150 patrons and proposed to operate seven days a week.
“From the beginning, we’ve seen ourselves not simply as the owners of the building, but as its custodians.”
Elliott Chipper
The café would open from 7am to 5pm daily while the restaurant would operate Sunday to Thursday from 7am to 10pm and Friday and Saturday from 7am to midnight.
The $2.5 million proposal states the outdoor alfresco dining area will not be in operation past 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
A take-away coffee window is also part of the plans.
Bilgoman Property is co-owned by Christopher McLoughlin, Elliott Chipper and Leigh Doherty who each have a connection to the Guildford area.
At the meeting, Chipper spoke on behalf of the group about why they purchased the site back in 2024.
“We knew we were taking on much more than a property development project,” he said.
“We were taking responsibility for one of our state’s most significant heritage-listed buildings in a community which our families have a genuine connection to, going back generations.
“Chris is a descendant from the Forrest and Moulton families. Sir John Forrest, as premier of Western Australia, commissioned the post office clock tower, while the Moultons were a prominent Guildford merchant family, remembered today through Moulton’s Cottage.
“Personally, I’m a direct descendant of John Chipper, one of the Swan River Colony’s earliest settlers. For generations, the Chipper family has played a prominent role in the life and growth of Guildford and the city of Perth as we know it today.”
Meanwhile, Doherty has worked on the restoration of some of the state’s most iconic heritage listed buildings including the Perth Town Hall and Ascot Kilns.
“From the beginning, we’ve seen ourselves not simply as the owners of the building, but as its custodians,” Chipper said.
Chipper said the group’s responsibility for the site was not to simply restore the building, but to secure its future and protect what made it significant to the community.
“We don’t simply want to restore the post office for it only to be admired from the street. Rather, we want the post office to once again be somewhere people meet, and where locals bring their families and visitors to experience Guildford’s history firsthand,” he said.
“We want to bring people back through its doors and restore its place at the heart of Guildford.”
Demolition works for the outside of the site listed in the development application include the removal of roof tiles, paint to the entirety of the facade and chimneys, security bars on windows and some windows.
Internal demolition and removal works include getting rid of selected doors, widening of openings, removal of vinyl floor coverings and the partial removal of a fireplace to accommodate kitchen facilities.
Conservation works will include restoring the building facade to its red face brick origins as well as new roof tiles and upgrading and repair of the clock tower and face.
Six parking spaces will be provided on site, a shortfall of 13 required for the space, and so a cash-in-lieu contribution of $30,000 was required in order for the application to proceed.
However, JDAP members voted on an amendment made by presiding member Francesca Lefante to remove this clause as the restoration of the building was the “most critical” part of the application.
“There is no easy way of providing additional parking in this area, and from my perspective, I am firmly of the position that the adaptive and reuse of this building is the most critical aspect of this whole proposal, and I don’t see it warrants any additional funding to be allocated to parking in an area that already has a number of bays at different peak periods,” she said.
Support for the proposal was evident among all members, with one claiming it could be as successful as the Guildford Hotel restoration.
“It would be a sad, sad day if something happened other than a restoration to this magnificent building,” panel member and City of Swan councillor Mel Congerton said.
“I drive past this probably a couple of times a week. It’s a magnificent building, and it’s well worth the restoration program they’re suggesting, and it’ll be a welcome business to the town of Guildford.”
City of Swan deputy mayor Charlie Zannino said the City has tried for decades to have the building restored, but plans never came to fruition.
“Hopefully, with the new owners taking over and having a look at what they’re proposing, this is going to be equal to the Guildford Hotel restoration, which is just down the road,” he said.
“The only doubtful thing is that possibly it’s going to be very, very popular, as I can see, and it may have some sort of parking problems because people want to try and park as close as they can to a destination, and I think that given the history of previous owners, the main concern was always the parking.
“But I’m pretty sure that the owners and in conjunction with the City of Swan will be able to overcome that, and I wish them full support.”
The development application was unanimously supported.
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