Bold plan for $1.2 billion opera house on the Perth waterfront

The design of the entrance for a Perth Concert Hall. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Looking past the price

Mr O'Riley believes that people, especially politicians, need to look past the cost and think about what an iconic building could do for the city.

"If you look at Sydney for example, it is the architectural and urban landmarks that have located it on the map," he said.

"We need to think about things in Perth in terms of what we need iconically and then have everything else revolves around that centrepiece.

"We are not doing that in Perth and I am very concerned that, on the foreshore, there is a mishmash of architecture that has the potential to give us slums of the future and degrade the image of Perth.

"We end up spending good money after bad because no-one is pre-planning the grand vision because I think planning is based around political terms, not visions."

Asked on 720 Mornings about the design, Premier Colin Barnett said he did like it, but indicated it was unlikely to be backed by the State Government.

"We haven't got a lazy billion lying around, but I do think we will see some magnificent architecture go into Elizabeth Quay," the Premier told Geoff Hutchison.

"That site at Elizabeth Quay is reserved for an Aboriginal art and cultural area. That's in the long-term plan; it's not something that is going to happen soon.

"When that is ultimately developed I hope it would be a spectacular building."