The Challenge
The facility designed through the CentreStage competition will be the first new professional performing arts venue constructed by the State Government. It represents a major commitment by the Government to support performing arts in Western Australia.
As in all highly visible and prestigious projects, the building will be under intense scrutiny by supporters and critics from the Government and general public, in particular from the arts community and the national design fraternity. The design challenge will be to balance budget and time constraints against industry demands for a functionally superior facility and public expectations of an architecturally dramatic addition to central Perth.
The project is located on a prominent corner site of the Perth Cultural Centre, across the road from the central train station of the city and adjacent to the central business district and Northbridge, a mixed use entertainment area offering a concentration of night clubs, bars and restaurants. In this pivotal location, the new performing arts facility has an opportunity to support surrounding day and night vitality, adding a new activity to the mix and weaving the operations of the new facility into the street life of the area.
It also has an obligation to contribute to revitalisation of the Cultural Centre which is home to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the WA Museum, the State Library, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Arts House and several other culture and arts organisations. This Centre, developed in the 1970s and '80s as a super block of major cultural institutions, has suffered from a segmented focus and poor connections to the life of surrounding streets and the night time activity of Northbridge. A revitalisation plan for the Cultural Centre is currently being prepared but the recommendations will not be available in time to inform the competition brief. The new performing arts facility, however, has a critical role to play in this revitalisation plan and competitors will be challenged to influence the direction of the larger initiative, within a context of uncertainty and continuing change
The site also includes a number of historically significant structures whose preservation in situ, although desirable, may be impractical. At a minimum, the street facades and one structural bay of historic commercial buildings lining part of the site must be retained, imposing a specific challenge to the relationship between old and new in the major frontage of the new building.
Finally, the new facility is expected to set a high standard of environmentally responsible design, responding appropriately to Perth's harsh summer heat and stormy winters.
