St John’s Pro Cathedral

Project Description

Drawn clear glass is something that is now difficult to obtain and has that distorted surface that you see in old window glass. It is this type of glass that was needed for the restoration of Perth’s oldest Catholic Church, Saint John’s located adjacent to Saint Mary’s Cathedral, also known as The Pro Cathedral.

We were commission to supply and glaze the building with glass which with some experimentation we had developed to look like old drawn glass in various thicknesses which can also be toughened. In total their where over 150 individual pieces of glass glazed and a simple leadlight using the same glass. We are proud to be associated with this project, if you are in the city stop by and take a look.

Kent AcottJanuary 27, 2016, 12:30 am The West Australian

The restored St John’s Pro-Cathedral, the small chapel that sits within the shadow of St Mary’s Cathedral in Victoria Square, will soon be open again for tours and religious events.

Project archaeologist Father Robert Cross said the building was significant for WA Catholics, both historically and spiritually, as their first place of worship and their first cathedral.

The church’s foundation stone was laid in 1844 and was the principal place of worship for Catholic West Australians until 1865 when, because of a growing population, a bigger cathedral, St Mary’s, was built just a few hundred metres further up the hill.

In an update issued last year, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said: “I am delighted that this important and unique building, the first Catholic Church in WA, which in recent times had fallen into a state of disrepair, will soon re-emerge — a much loved icon of our city, ready to again serve as a working Church for the people of Perth.”

Thanks in part to a $60,000 Lotterywest grant, the restoration has included a new floor, improved ventilation under the floor space to solve a rising damp problem, restoring the windows to their original condition, replacing roof timbers and painting.

“It’s amazing the building has survived so long,” Father Cross said.

“And the new work will ensure it survives a lot longer.”