Evan Davies Building

About

The Evan Davies Building, also known as the Literary Institute Building, is a heritage listed building located at 13 South Terrace, Fremantle, Australia, on the corner with Collie Street. It was one of many buildings constructed in Fremantle during the gold boom period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The building was completed in 1899, and was opened on 15 March 1899 as the Literary Institute.

The architects for the work were Messrs. Wilkinson, Smith, and Wilson, with the main contractor being L. Burness.

The building was completed at a cost of £1,528. The two storey building is constructed from brick, render and iron in the Federation Academic Classical style of architecture. The Literary Institute in Fremantle, thought to be the oldest in Western Australia, was established in 1868 from an amalgamation between two private institutions, the Working Man's Association and the Mechanics Institute.

It was housed at a number of locations around Fremantle until the gold boom, when many new buildings were constructed around the town. The architects, Wilkinson, Smith, and Wilson, drew up the plan as part of a competition to design the new building. It was opened in 1899...