Bunbury’s new Cathedral: a bigger, wider, closer experience

The new Cathedral replaces the earlier one, constructed in 1921 after being delayed some five or six years by World War One. The original Cathedral was designed by architect Richard Dennehy in the Gothic Revival Style. Dennehy designed many significant buildings for the Catholic Church in Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne, including the Catholic Education Centre in Leederville, WA and the University of Notre Dame Australia education building on the Broadway Campus in Chippendale NSW.

St Patrick’s Cathedral was destroyed by a tornado in 2005 and Marcus Collins Architects were appointed by Bishop Holohan in late 2006. Their relationship with Bishop Holohan extends back some 20 years through their work on the Catholic Education Centre and UNDA. Previous religious building experience includes the restoration of the Chapel at the CEO, the Chapel at UNDA in Fremantle, the restoration of St Benedicts Church at Chippendale, Sydney’s third oldest Catholic church designed by AW Pugin, the restoration and extensive rebuilding of Sacred Heart Church in Darlinghurst, Sydney, and two mosques while working in the Middle East.
– After extensive consultation with the parishioners and the people of Bunbury, it was decided that it was important that the new Cathedral, while being being considerably larger and contemporary in design, should reflect the original Cathedral in its external appearance, particularly when viewed on the skyline.
– The architectural brief was carefully prepared and extensive in scope. It was a requirement that, while its external appearance should reflect the original Cathedral which was narrow and linear in plan, the new Cathedral should have its seating as close to the altar as possible, with no one seated too far away. It was also required that the Cathedral should not look empty when a smaller congregation was gathered. These requirements led to the half octagon layout with a large first floor gallery.
– Clear site lines were also part of the brief, leading to the sloping nave and tiered gallery. The nave is considerably wider than it is long.
– The new Cathedral has a footprint of around 40 x 37.5 metres, approximately three times the original Cathedral in area, and seats 850 with provision for more should it be required.
The top of the spire, at just under 47 metres tall is believed to be the tallest in WA.
– Major components of the new Cathedral are the huge “leadlight” side windows, the “rose” windows at each end, and the tapestry over the sanctuary.
These were designed by “national treasure” artist Robert Juniper in his contemporary style using much West Australian flora and fauna such as the dingo, bilby, grass tree and Stuart Pea. This provides a West Australian context to the messages of 14 scenes from the New and Old Testaments.
The image technique used for the windows by manufacturer Digiglas is essentially an ink jet process using colour fast paints onto plastic film which is then sandwiched between glass sheets to form high strength windows similar, but at a much lower cost, to leadlight.
While the technique does not allow for the colour depth of traditional leadlight, it does allow for incredible reproduction of the details in the original artwork such as brush strokes and even the threads in the canvas weave of the artwork. Close examination of the windows shows detail that you would expect from photographs from an electron microscope.
– It is believed that the combined area of the Digiglass windows makes it among the largest such windows in the world. Extensive use was made of all surviving material from the original Cathedral and from items donated by other churches and St Mary’s Cathedral, including the original tabernacle and pews for the gallery and Mary Chapel. The travertine altar, font, and ambo from St Mary’s Cathedral were refurbished and adapted for the new Cathedral and dictated its interior design and colour scheme.
– The new pews to the ground level of the Cathedral were designed and manufactured by Glen Holst of Bridgetown to compliment the Cathedral interior design. 
– The works included a lot more than the Cathedral itself. To fit all the requirements, particularly the approximately 150 car bays and onsite access roads, which for budget reasons had to be above ground, the works required extensive perimeter retaining walls to maximise the area for building. The original banking reduced the usable site area below what was needed to achieve the brief. These retaining walls were a significant cost but provide a magnificent base to the Cathedral site, much like an Italian hill monastery town.
– The original presbytery, constructed in 1918, three years before St Patrick’s Church (as it then was), was described on its completion as “one of the finest presbyteries in the State”.
It was damaged by the 2005 tornado, but that damage was dwarfed by a fire in the early days of January 2008.
– Its extensive reconstruction, before it could be recycled for office use, was made possible by Catholic Insurance, thus preserving its high heritage value.
– The 1951 extensions to the former presbytery were also restored and recycled for office and community use. These works include a new hall and additional offices.
– A new three level building is about to be constructed to provide accommodation for six priests, parish offices, and ground level parking. This will reflect the construction of the Cathedral and will form a “bookend” to the Cathedral at the other end of the Cathedral site.
– The remaining buildings on site require minor works to help bring them into the new aesthetic established by the Cathedral and the other refurbished and new buildings. Rome was not built in a day.
– The cost of the new Cathedral, excluding the other buildings, was approximately $14 million, and this equates to a similar cost allowance, per square metre, for a parish church.
– Information: Marcus Collins, architect