The Cloisters is located at 200 St Georges Terrace – a two-storey dark coloured brick building, a historical WA landmark as it is one of a small number of remaining convict-built colonial buildings of the mid-nineteenth century in the central area of Perth.
The Arbor Centre was honoured to be invited to assist in the creation of a design that emphasised the historic importance of the building whilst also maintaining the welfare of the existing heritage tree on site – the Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson Fig).
The Arbor Centre was engaged from an early stage to assess the proposed design and provide the inputs into successful mature tree retention for the Cloisters building redevelopment. Our team was involved throughout the development to successfully protect and retain the magnificent Ficus rubiginosa.
Playing a part in maintaining WA Tree Heritage
Protecting heritage trees around WA is one of the main services that the Arbor Centre is known for.
In this instance, the Arbor Centre’s expertise and experience was sought by The Cloisters to provide assurance that the retention and management solutions for the heritage Fig Tree is of the highest standard, delivered safely and in a cost-effective manner.
Staged approach to protecting heritage tree at The Cloisters
The tree retention project for The Cloisters’ heritage tree was delivered in stages:
- Starting with a detailed Visual Tree Assessment that included Aerial Inspection of the canopy;
- Soil Profiling & Preliminary Soil Analytical Testing Rootzone Investigations to ‘ground truth’ location of roots in relation to proposed structures and Formal Reporting.
- Based on the above findings, the proposed development and realignments of the existing garden area were approved.This included the raised decking and restaurant alfresco area.
- Based on the final agreed design, Tree Preservation Specifications was developed to guide the building contractor.
The Arbor Centre undertook 18 months of Arboricultural Supervision, Remedial works and progress reporting to allow the Heritage Fig to be successfully retained within The Cloisters development.
Healthy Fig Tree for many years to come
Through the Arbor Centre’s various assessments, findings, supervision and works, the heritage Fig Tree at The Cloisters’ newly designed business, dining and lifestyle complex was able to be retained and managed healthily for many years to come.
As WA’s leading arborists and tree specialists, the Arbor Centre is proud of our continued contribution to help to retain trees of significance and heritage value within the urban environment.
Get in touch for more information
The Arbor Centre has decades of experience in retaining and managing mature trees throughout Western Australia. We have a dedicated Arboricultural Consultancy team that are called upon by Local Government, Education Institutions, Developers and Landscape Architects to provide specialist support for trees in the urban environment. For more information, visit our Consultancy info page or get in touch with one of our team members.