Kerry Hill Architects
Singapore and Fremantle
Kerry Hill Architects is a planning, architecture and interior design practice committed to innovative and regionally appropriate architecture.
The firm has extensive experience with resort and city hotels, commercial developments, schools, the performing arts, recreation facilities, corporate and restaurant interiors, residential architecture and restoration projects.
Its design concept proposes the following elements:
- The arrangement of the main theatre above the studio theatre minimises the building footprint, allowing the location of a large multifunction outdoor performance venue on the site. The informality of the outdoor space means it will attract a more diverse audience and extend the venue’s reach beyond traditional theatre audiences.
- The architecture of the new venue is deliberately contemporary in expression. It proposes the clear articulation of building elements through material and form. The design seeks to establish strong visual identities for both theatres through materials – a black metal cubic volume for the studio theatre and a curved timber cylinder for the main theatre. These identities are clearly visible from the foyers and Roe Street.
- Elements such as a glowing flytower that acts as a beacon to the surrounding city, generous and spatially adventurous foyers and an intimate and an interactive main theatre combine to produce a greater whole. The elements are contained in a clearly articulated architectural expression of solid and transparent volumes. The material palette is deliberately robust responding to the urban nature of the site.
- The containment of the vertical circulation to the foyers in an expressed gilded bronze box encourages a sense of event and spectacle, increasing the anticipation of the performance. Combined, these elements become an abstract sculpture of interlocking planes and prisms contrasting solidity and transparency.
Jury Comments
This submission was unanimously judged as the concept with most potential for resolving the urban design and functional requirements of the site.
Key qualities of the winning scheme include:
- an intelligent solution to a complex site, producing a clearly legible organisation of the facility;
- elegant massing that relates comfortably to the Cultural Centre context;
- appropriately scaled elements that respect adjacent heritage buildings;
- Roe and the critical William Street corner are activated with a transparent, multi-layered foyer;
- Public circulation through the facility is encouraged with connection through an urban room linking James and William Streets
- A well chosen palette of materials; and
- The luminous fly tower creates a compelling night time landmark for the performing arts facility and the Cultural Centre in general
The design proposal demonstrates a sensitive response to local scale and context without compromising the strength of the architectural idea.
View the Stage 1 design from Kerry Hill
Architects
Back to Stage 2 Designs menu
We welcome your feeback about the competition and/or designs submitted.
