Paving The Old Courthouse
Fellstyle Pavers at The Old Courthouse, Fremantle
When a building has stood on Henderson Street since 1899, the materials you place around it have to earn their keep. This is the story of the Fellstyle pavers supplied for the outdoor courtyard at The Old Courthouse in Fremantle, and why a low-variation quartzitic sandstone was the right call for one of the port city’s most characterful venues.
Key Takeaways
- Fellstyle’s consistent, neutral grey tone holds a large courtyard together visually, reading as calm rather than busy across the full laid area.
- Its natural surface texture provides grip underfoot with no coating or treatment required, which matters in an outdoor dining setting.
- The cool grey sits naturally against the warm tones of the building’s original 1899 limestone walls.
- Quartzitic sandstone is hard-wearing and well suited to daily commercial foot traffic.
- Supplied in a mixed-size format across the venue’s beer garden and alfresco dining areas
A Heritage Venue That Demanded the Right Surface
The Old Courthouse is one of Fremantle’s genuine landmarks. Built in 1899 in the Federation Academic Classical style, it served as the port city’s courthouse for over a century before closing in 2001 and being registered as a permanent heritage building in 2003. After years of lying derelict, it was restored and reopened in late 2021 as a bar, restaurant and functions venue, retaining its 6-metre courtroom ceilings, original magistrate’s desk and witness docks.
The restoration was handled with real care, extending the historic building with a modern pavilion and opening up the outdoor areas. The result is a venue that moves between heritage and contemporary at every turn, which is exactly the kind of setting that punishes a poor material choice and rewards a considered one.
The outdoor courtyard, where the Fellstyle pavers were supplied, serves as the beer garden and alfresco dining area. It sits beneath mature peppermint trees and alongside the building’s original limestone walls. A surface in this position has two jobs: stand up to daily commercial use, and look right next to 125-year-old stonework. Not every paver can do both.
Project Details
Paver: Fellstyle Natural Stone
Application: Outdoor courtyard, beer garden and alfresco dining
Setting: Restored 1899 heritage venue
Location: The Old Courthouse, 45 Henderson Street, Fremantle
The stone was laid across the full outdoor courtyard in a mixed-size format, drawing from Fellstyle’s range of sizes. A mixed lay avoids the rigid, repetitive look of a single-size grid and gives a large area a more natural, considered rhythm, while the consistent colour across every piece keeps the whole surface reading as one.
Why Fellstyle Suited This Project
Fellstyle is a quartzitic sandstone with a particular quality that made it right for this setting: it is a low-variation stone. Every piece carries much the same neutral light-grey tone, with a subtle natural texture across the surface. That consistency is doing more work here than it might first appear.
A Calm Surface Across a Large Area
In a courtyard this size, a high-variation stone, one where each piece differs sharply from the next, would create visual noise across the whole floor. The eye would jump from piece to piece instead of settling. Fellstyle does the opposite. Its even tone lets the courtyard read as a single calm surface, which leaves the building itself, the trees and the fit-out to do the talking. In a heritage venue with this much character already present, a quiet floor is the right floor.
Sitting Alongside Heritage Stonework
The original walls at The Old Courthouse are built from Fremantle limestone and Cottesloe stone, with the warm buff tones those materials carry. The cool grey of the Fellstyle pavers sits against them the way complementary materials do, with each making the other look better rather than competing for attention. It is the kind of result that comes from choosing natural stone carefully, matching the specific stone to the specific setting, rather than choosing natural stone in general and hoping it works.
Grip Without Compromise
Fellstyle’s natural surface texture provides grip underfoot without any applied coating or surface treatment. In an outdoor dining and drinking venue, where spills are simply part of the day and guests move constantly across the floor, that texture is a genuine practical asset, not just a visual one. The stone does its job whether the courtyard is dry in summer or wet after winter rain.
About Fellstyle
Fellstyle is a quartzitic sandstone paver with neutral light-grey tones and a consistent, low-variation character across the range. The natural surface texture provides grip without the need for sealing or treatment, and it is responsibly sourced.
It is available in three sizes:
- 1140 x 570 x 22mm
- 855 x 570 x 22mm
- 570 x 570 x 22mm
Project packs are also available, combining 855 x 570mm, 570 x 570mm and 570 x 285mm pieces, which is a practical option for working to a defined area.
For full specifications and examples, see the Fellstyle product page. If you are comparing options across the category, the sandstone range is a good place to start.
A Commercial Paving Project in Perth
The Old Courthouse is one of the commercial projects we have supplied across Perth. We supply porcelain, natural stone, cobblestones and cladding for hospitality venues and commercial spaces, from a single feature wall to a full courtyard. See more of our [commercial paving projects] and the materials behind them.