The WA government has unveiled the masterplan for the rejuvenation of a key precinct in the centre of Perth.
The masterplan for the $35 million redevelopment of the Perth Cultural Centre will create a “transformational space and a new identity” for the precinct, said architect Fred Chaney, whose practice TRCB worked on the masterplan with landscape architects TCL.
“We’ve identified some really fabulous opportunities and some issues and challenges of the place,” he said.
Perth Cultural Centre occupies a city block in Northbridge bound by Francis Street to the north, Beauford Street to the east, Roe Street to the south and William Street to the west. It is home to the state’s major cultural institutions including the State Library of Western Australia, State Theatre Centre by Kerry Hill Architects, WA Museum Boola Bardip by Hassell and OMA.
The central heart will be surrounded by large shade structures.
Image:
TRCB and TCL
“The precinct is blessed by all these incredible institutions co-located in effectively one city block […] but there’s nothing really that ties them all together and there’s certainly not space that works as a breakout space for all the institutions,” Chaney said.
“One of the things that really excites us is the idea of a new major public space right in the heart of the precinct.”
The “central heart” space is one of six key moves that will rejuvenate the precinct. The central heart will be a flexible green space at the middle of the precinct that would become a meeting place and draw people in. It will be surrounded with large shade structures that will be visible from a distance.
Other key moves including creating a distinct formal east-west promenade along James Street, composed of an avenue of trees; constructing a north-south axis of gardens that would celebrate the botanical and cultural environments of the Perth region with place for sitting, lounging, eating; opening up the building edges to the public domain and creating clear and recognizable connections beyond the precinct; and developing under-utilized sites, such as a hotel or student accommodation.
A north-south axis of gardens that would celebrate Perth’s botanical and cultural environments.
Image:
TRCB and TCL
“At the moment when you go to the cultural centre, you go to the museum, but you don’t go there for its own sake and that’s a really critical outcome and objective for this project,” Chaney said.
“We can create a space where people just want to go there because it’s a fabulous place to be.
“The great advantage of that is that once people are in the Cultural Centre and they can then start to take advantage of the all these fabulous cultural institutions that they may not have been aware of in the first place.”
The project will also see the demolition of an existing amphitheatre to create more a more accessible and graded landscape.
The WA government has allocated a further 15 million towards the project in its 2022-23 state budget, in addition to the $20 million the project has already received from state and federal governments.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
