Our Vision

If you're considering a career in the building trades — carpentry or masonry — consider this: any school can teach you to build to code, to appease modern construction guidelines and to produce standardised housing stock. The Perth Academy can teach you the material knowledge and skills necessary to produce buildings that will stand for centuries. Buildings that are beautiful to look at and to live in.

We see these buildings in our countryside and in historic neighbourhoods in towns and cities across the country. Some have stood for several centuries, many were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — and all can stand for centuries into the future. These buildings were built the Perth Academy way.

With proper knowledge and care — guided by an understanding of traditional materials, strong trades skills and a thorough understanding of building science — a traditionally built building can perform its duties in perpetuity.

At Perth Academy, we believe responsible environmental action is not the endless cycle of demolition and replacement, but the preservation, repair, and thoughtful stewardship of enduring buildings. As has often been repeated, the greenest buildings have already been built.

Conserving and restoring these buildings benefits not only our environment and our energy resources, but it pays homage to our cultural heritage and honours the lives that have come before us. We should take pride in our heritage.

By combining traditional skills and ways with modern knowledge and efficiency, we can establish a set of beliefs, attitudes, and patterns that will re-shape our perceptions of both our heritage and new building stock for future generations.