The aerial photography and technical drawings included in the text below are available in a higher resolution format and AutoCAD files suitable for direct download, are available in the Site Documents section of the Stage 1 documentation.
The City of Perth
| Perth is the capital of the largest state in the world. Covering one-third of the Australian continent, Western Australia is roughly the equivalent in size to Western Europe, or the western third of the United States. Bordered largely by desert to the east, the state is bound on the west by 12,500 kilometres (7813 miles) of the world's most pristine coastline. |
The Perth Metropolitan Area |
| Despite its expansive size, over 70% of Western Australia's 1.9 million inhabitants live in the greater Perth metropolitan area. While the low density of population contributes to the State’s characteristic sense of space and freedom, Perth itself is a bustling modern city, and an important business centre for the most productive mineral and petroleum region in Australia. Perth’s inhabitants are culturally diverse, with some 30% of the population born overseas and more than 200 different nationalities represented in the 1.4 million people living, working and studying in the city. |
Perth is located in the south west corner of the State, on a plain between the Indian Ocean and the ancient Darling Ranges. Much of the central city’s beauty is derived from its location on a sweep of the broad and tranquil waters of the Swan River, below the slopes of Mt Eliza where Kings Park provides access to 400 hectares of natural bushland. The stunning contrast of city, park and river is further enhanced by views of the distant blue hills of the Darling Ranges.
 |
 |
Looking west across the central city |
The Central Business District from Kings Park |
The central city is well laid out and easy to navigate. Historical houses and churches, artworks and public places provide a counterpoint to the modern skyscrapers, shops and restaurants within the central business district (CBD). Proximity to the river and the extensive network of riverside cycle and pathways, as well as a number of inner city parks, contribute to a relaxed, nature-based ambience.
A Mediterranean climate also contributes to Perth’s easy-going and informal lifestyle. The city averages eight hours of sunlight per day and enjoys pleasant weather for most of the year. Average temperatures range from 30ºC (maximum) to 17ºC (minimum) in summer, and 18ºC (maximum) and 8ºC (minimum) in winter. Occasional extremes, however, can subject the city to harsh, dry summer heat and squally weather in winter. |
 |
Looking northwest across Perth Water to the Central Business District |
 |
Perth's Central Business District with the Cultural Centre shown in purple |
The Northbridge area
| Northbridge is the area immediately north of Perth’s central business district, divided from the CBD by the main east-west rail line which connects Perth to the port of Fremantle on the coast. | |
For over 120 years, this rail line has isolated Northbridge from the business functions of the central city and allowed it to develop a distinct character of its own. Since the early 1900s, Northbridge has been the commercial and social hub for a number of immigrant communities. In particular, the presence of Chinese, Greek and Italian communities, and the more recent arrival of Vietnamese groups, has had a lasting influence that contributes to the multicultural vitality of Northbridge today. This colourful character, as well as numerous cafes, restaurants, nightclubs and street performances, has made Northbridge a popular centre of entertainment and nightlife. |
 |
.
In addition to the entertainment sector, Northbridge is home to a variety of other industries, ranging from clothing and gourmet food sales, to automotive repair, printing works and restaurant equipment suppliers. Other uses include backpacker accommodation, churches and community services, with several recent medium density housing projects adding to the community of permanent residents. It is this range of activities, together with the diversity of people they attract, that creates Northbridge’s special character. |
 |
| Views of James Street, Northbridge's central spine | |
 |
|
Northbridge, with the CentreStage site and Cultural Centre highlighted |
|
Perth Cultural Centre |
The State Library of Western Australia The Western Australian Museum |
Northbridge is also the home of Western Australia’s major cultural institutions, collected in the Perth Cultural Centre which contains the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Western Australian Museum, the State Library of Western Australia, and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), along with several smaller arts education and service organizations such as Art on the Move and the Blue Room Theatre. Information on the institutions of the Cultural Centre can be obtained from these web sites:
The Perth Cultural Centre was created in the 1970s when new facilities for the Art Gallery and State Library were developed adjacent to the historic WA Museum complex on Beaufort Street. By closing James Street, between William and Beaufort Streets, and Museum Street, between Francis and Roe, a 'superblock' of major cultural institutions was created, with direct access from the city's central train station and within a short walk from the CBD. |
An aerial view of the Perth Cultural Centre and environs |
CentreStage Site Constraints |
Looking east between State Library (left) and PICA (right) |
||
| The western edge of the complex along William Street was spared from the redevelopment wrecking ball and remains lined with one to three story mixed use buildings that are typical of Perth's traditional late 19th and early 20th century commercial architecture. Existing uses on William Street include a mix of offices and retail, health and beauty shops, a bookstore, a single men's hostel, and several ethnic cafés and restaurants. |  |
|
 |
 |
|
| William Street Buildings streetscape | Looking west down James Street |
|
Pedestrian access
With the east-west railroad line at grade, the primary pedestrian access to the Cultural Centre from the central city is via an upper level concourse through the train station and a bridge across Roe Street. This route connects pedestrians to the landscaped roof of the Art Gallery Carpark and leads directly to the main entry of the Art Gallery. A stair at the western end of the train platforms provides access up to the level of the Horseshoe Bridge and a second bridge to the roof garden.
Beyond the Gallery, visitors make their way to the other attractions of the Cultural Centre through a series of inter-connected hardscape terraces that offer a variety of casual seating and gathering places and provide locations for occasional outdoor performances and exhibitions. Without programmed events, however, these interior public areas are relatively deserted, particularly at night, leading to growing concerns about lack of personal safety. To address the safety issues by promoting more consistent levels of activity through the precinct, current revitalization plans for the Cultural Centre are considering the reinstatement of James Street as a traffic connection from William to Beaufort Street (see Section 4.6 on Current Development Initiatives below).
Terraces of the main plaza between the State Library and PICA |
Despite the somewhat barren and exposed character of public spaces, the strategic location of the Cultural Centre and its relationship to the train station promotes a fairly consistent level of pedestrian traffic throughout the day. A significant proportion of the daily activity is comprised of students cutting through the precinct to the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) College on the north side of Francis Street, and groups of school children or retirees making a special visit to the Art Gallery or Museum. With landscape improvements that add a higher level of interest and amenity to the public areas, the Cultural Centre could function very effectively as the inner city park of its original design concept.
Vehicular access and parking
Street system:
The Cultural Centre superblock is defined on its east and west sides by Beaufort and William Streets – both important one-way traffic corridors connecting over the rail line into the central business district.
The William and James Street corner, looking south towards the CBD |
William Street, which runs south into the CBD, is the premier north-south corridor of the CBD. Its route is complicated by the tortuous configuration of the Horseshoe Bridge which was built in 1904 to provide a grade-separated crossing over the railroad tracks. A recent decision by the State government to sink the railroad west of the central Perth Station will provide an opportunity to reconnect William Street at grade, potentially making the Horseshoe Bridge obsolete. The bridge, however, has significant heritage value so even though its traffic function may be eliminated, it will be retained as an historic element of the Northbridge Link area redevelopment (detailed 4.6 below). There is also considerable support for converting William Street from a one-way southbound corridor into a two-way street to promote an easier flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic between the CBD and Northbridge.
| Beaufort Street is William Street's northbound pair, connecting to Barrack Street which is another important CBD corridor. This route also curves over the tracks to achieve sufficient clearance, but with a simpler alignment than William Street. The rail lines will not be sunk east of the station, so the Beaufort Street configuration will not change in the foreseeable future, although it may also be converted to two-way operation if and when William Street is changed. The north and south boundaries of the Cultural Centre superblock are Francis and Roe Streets, both of which are primarily service streets, providing access to parking, service areas and loading docks with limited pedestrian activity, particularly on Roe Street. A recent inventory of daily traffic volumes on streets surrounding the Cultural Centre shows Roe Street as the busiest street in the area. Because it is a two-way street that provides easy connections to the regional system of freeways and major arteries around the CBD, traffic volumes on Roe Street will remain high, irrespective of future changes to the William-Beaufort Street pair. | Looking south across Roe Street to the Horseshoe Br. |
Traffic Volumes (source: SKM study for EPRA, May '05) |
|
 |
|
Parking:
The Cultural Centre precinct currently offers 873 public parking spaces, over 33% of which are in the Art Gallery Carpark and the rest under the State Library. An additional 1,573 spaces are available in public garages and surface lots within two blocks of the Cultural Centre, and surrounding streets provide 335 on-street spaces. With so much public parking already available, the new performing arts facility is not required to provide any additional spaces for its exclusive use. Patrons of the new facility will park primarily in the Art Gallery Carpark or under the State Library. The latter garage is entered from Francis Street and pedestrian exits are provided in two locations on either side of the main plaza in the centre of the precinct, with ramp access to William Street on the northern side of the James Street spine. Floor plans of the Art Gallery Carpark showing the location of existing elevators and stairs and the design of the roof garden are provided in the Site Documents section of the Stage 1 documentation. Design of the new facility must consider the pedestrian experience from parking space to the theatre foyers and concept submissions should include any proposed modifications to existing garages or exit shelters. Public transport:The Cultural Centre area is extremely well served by public transport, including rail service from outer suburbs to the Perth Train Station, frequent bus service on William, Beaufort and Wellington Streets, and easy access to three lines of the free Central Area Transit (CAT) services which circulate through the central city area and Northbridge. As noted above, a bridge across Roe Street provides direct access from the train station into the Cultural Centre precinct. Existing bus stops on William and Beaufort Streets are conveniently located on either side of the James Street spine. |
 |
Parking Inventory (source: SKM Study for EPRA, May '05) |
|
 |
|
Central Area Transit (CAT) service on William Street |
|
 |
|
The pedestrian bridges over Roe Street |
Current development initiatives
Construction of a new performing arts facility is only one of several significant development projects currently underway, or being planned, that will have a major impact on the future of the Cultural Centre.
MetroRail Link:
The State government is currently implementing the largest public transportation infrastructure project ever undertaken in Western Australia – the new MetroRail link from Perth to Mandurah, a swiftly growing coastal town approximately 75 kilometres south of Perth. This massive rail project includes a new north-south subway segment through the Perth CBD, and two new underground rail stations at either end of William Street, one serving the riverfront area at the new Convention Centre, the other accessing the heart of the CBD at Murray Street, with pedestrian connections to the existing Perth Train Station on Wellington Street.
Coordinating with construction of the new CBD subway, plans are currently being prepared for redevelopment of the blocks on either side of William Street, between Murray and Wellington Streets. Although still several years away, these projects will add thousands of square metres of new office and retail space just south of the Cultural Centre, and will dramatically change the street life and visual character of an important entry and exit point to the downtown.
Completion of the MetroRail line in 2007 will increase the level of pedestrian activity through and around the train station and provide convenient transit access to the new performing arts facility and other Northbridge attractions for many more residents of the Greater Perth Metropolitan area. Passengers exiting at the Murray Street station will emerge from the subway on Wellington Street, accessing the Cultural Centre largely as they do now, through the upper level concourse of the existing Perth Train Station and across the Roe Street bridges.
Northbridge Link Redevelopment:
Building on the momentum of the MetroRail project, the State Government has recently committed to submerging the east-west rail lines for several blocks west of the existing Perth Train Station. This investment will allow William Street and several streets further west to connect across the tracks at grade, removing the barrier that has disconnected the CBD from Northbridge and communities beyond since 1881.
Submerging the tracks not only reconnects the streets but also creates a significant development opportunity in the air-rights above. Plans for high density, mixed-use development of office, retail, housing and a variety of supporting services and public amenities are currently being prepared for the wedge-shaped area west of the station, between Wellington and Roe Streets, that has come to be known as the "Northbridge Link".
The part of this project that is of particular significance to the new performing arts facility is the reconstruction of William Street. Various scenarios are currently being tested, including vacating the Horseshoe Bridge in favour of a two-way street connection at grade, and maintaining the Horseshoe Bridge for through traffic and reserving the grade connection for pedestrians and local drop-off and service access.
There are several complex issues that make this a much more difficult decision than it seems; for example, reconnecting William Street for through traffic will interfere with the end panels of the historic balustrade of the bridge which is unacceptable to the WA Heritage Council. There is also continuing debate about what is to become of the Horseshoe Bridge if it ceases to carry traffic, and how to treat the space it encloses: should it be a public plaza? Or a commercial development site? In any scenario, the level of the tracks at William Street still demands a rise of approximately 1.5 metres which may simply negate the functional and visual advantages of reconnecting the street altogether.
The East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA), which has a mandate to implement the Northbridge Link project, is a long way from resolving these and other important issues. For the CentreStage competition, it is reasonable to assume that the Horseshoe Bridge will remain in place, either with or without traffic, and that there will be an improved connection of some sort between the two sections of William Street. Beyond that, competitors may explore other alternatives, using the design of the new facility to influence the final outcome.
Cultural Centre revitalisation:
As well as the Northbridge Link project, EPRA has been charged to design and implement a comprehensive strategy for revitalising the Cultural Centre, again with no final decisions made at this time. However, there is consensus on a general direction towards converting the area from a "Cultural Centre" to a "Cultural District" – one that is tightly integrated into the commercial and entertainment activities of Northbridge and extends something of the multicultural vitality of the neighbourhood into the institutional precinct, and even into the image and operations of the institutions themselves.
There is strong support for reopening James Street between William and Beaufort Streets to make the area more permeable and the circulation system more legible. There is also some interest in studying the feasibility of reopening Museum Street, the north-south street that originally provided a mid-block connection between Francis and Roe Streets. This would require demolition of the Art Gallery Carpark, abandonment of the bridge connection across Roe Street, and reconfiguration of the entry to the Art Gallery – all heroic, but not inconceivable, possibilities.
For the CentreStage competition, it is important not to inhibit the creative talents of the entrants by discouraging the exploration of alternatives that may significantly advantage the operations and design stature of the new performing arts venue. On the other hand, the project has a strict budget and timeframe which must be satisfied. Competitors are therefore warned to evaluate the practicality of provocative proposals in relation to the rigid project constraints. Nevertheless, the advantage of designing this new facility before final decisions have been made on many of the external issues is that there may be an opportunity to influence those decisions.
The CentreStage site
| The site of the new performing arts venue is the northeast corner of William and Roe Streets, including three William Street buildings, through to the Art Gallery Carpark and the PICA building on the east. The existing restaurant (320 m2) must be replaced in its present location, but the new facility may extend above it. Although the Arts House building is expected to remain, the northern 'boundary' of the site is the original James Street alignment, allowing the new facility to connect to the pedestrian (and possibly vehicular) spine of the Cultural Centre Centre with relationships to existing development that maintain its present function. For example, commercial uses on William Street are currently serviced by a rear driveway; the new facility may extend to the back of these buildings, provided the existing service function is maintained. A similar requirement is in place for the area between Arts House and PICA. | |
Looking north towards the Cookery Centre, with Arts House and the State Library beyond |
|
Direct view of the site from the Horseshoe Bridge |
While the future of the James Street corridor is currently being debated, the design of the new performing arts venue is expected to influence the final decisions on this critical element of the precinct and competitors are encouraged to offer ideas that stray beyond the specific site of the new facility.
In addition to the William Street buildings, the site contains two other historically significant structures attached to Arts House: the Cookery and Laundry Centre and the Manual Training Room. The heritage value of these two structures and the William Street buildings is described in detail below. As for the James Street spine, the treatment of the heritage elements of the site is open to interpretation and competitors should weigh their historic significance in developing an approach. A critical criterion in evaluation of the Stage 1 concepts is how effectively the new facility is integrated with other buildings and open spaces of the Cultural Centre, and its relationship to the commercial and entertainment activities of the larger Northbridge area. The Competition Jury will be looking for innovative ways in which the new facility engages Arts House, PICA, and circulation patterns through the area, as well as how it relates to the backs of the buildings remaining on William Street and proposed treatment of the two structures connected to Arts House. |
|
Looking towards the State Library, with PICA at right |
|
 |
|
The back of the William Street Buildings (commercial) |
|
 |
An AutoCAD site plan and full site survey is available for download, along with plans and elevations of the existing buildings, from the Site Documents section of the Stage 1 documentation.
Heritage Buildings
The heritage significance of the existing built elements on the CentreStage site has been analysed specifically for the CentreStage competition. The heritage report, prepared by an experienced analyst, will give competitors as much information as possible on which to base their judgements about the treatment of heritage elements of the site.
