London Court, Perth

London Court is one of Perth’s most recognizable heritage shopping arcades. It was built in 1937 by mining entrepreneur and businessman Claude de Bernales, on land formerly associated with a group of alleys known as Gun Alley. Designed by Melbourne architect Bernard Evans, the arcade was originally planned with shops, offices, and residential flats, though today it is mainly known as a shopping and tourist destination.

The arcade’s appeal lies in its theatrical mock-Tudor, or Inter-War Old English, style. Visitors pass through large wrought-iron gates into an open-roofed arcade lined with small shops, decorative façades, gables, leadlight windows, shields, crests, and old-fashioned signs. Although it looks like a fragment of Elizabethan England, London Court is very much a 20th-century Perth creation, blending historic fantasy with modern commercial design.

Its clocks are among its best-known features. The clock at the Hay Street end includes a display of mechanized jousting knights, while the Saint Georges Terrace end features Saint George battling the dragon. Its heritage value has long been recognized: it received a National Trust of Australia classification in 1978, was recorded in the Register of the National Estate in 1982, and was added to the State Register of Heritage Places in 1996.