Located on the western side of Forrest Place in the city's central business district, its imposing stone facade is in the Beaux-Arts style.

[1] The Perth General Post Office was relocated to St Georges Terrace between 1887 and 1890, however by 1910 this accommodation was inadequate for the services provided.

[2] On 28 November 1911, the Commonwealth Government bought 1.2 hectares (130,000 sq ft) of land across Wellington Street from the Perth railway station.

[3][5] A proposal was made in 1912 for a 66-foot (20 m) wide street through the site featuring a new General Post Office building.

[7] William Hardwick succeeded Beasley as the Principal Architect in 1917 and oversaw the project from that point until its completion.

[6] The General Post Office was officially opened on 26 September 1923 after around nine years of protracted construction, at a total cost of £400,000.

[6][8] At its opening, the new General Post Office was Perth's largest building,[4] and it has been said that its imposing design proclaimed "the might of the new Commonwealth".

[6] It was designed in a similar style to the General Post Office by the architectural staff of the bank, and built by A. Douglas for a tender price of £207,000.

The Padbury Buildings on the eastern side of Forrest Place, which had been constructed in 1925, were demolished,[13] and the newly created pedestrian mall featured basement parking and loading docks for the General Post Office.

[14] The widening of Forrest Place has effectively created a town square dominated by the General Post Office building.

The architecture of the General Post Office building has been referred to as High Edwardian Classical[8] and a "free treatment of the Greek Renaissance".

The granite is the finest I have ever seen.The interior of the General Post Office was similarly well-finished, with jarrah features throughout.

[18] The postal hall also featured a frosted glass roof, above which a lightwell reached to the top of the building.