Geelong Arts Centre wins national architecture award

GEELONG Arts Centre has been celebrated for the “bold and evocative” interior architecture of its $150 million redevelopment at this year’s National Architecture Awards.

The centre and its designers, ARM Architecture, took home a National Award for Interior Architecture at last week’s awards ceremony in recognition of the building’s “inclusive and accessible” approach to design.

The final stage of Geelong Arts Centre’s revitalisation was completed in August last year and added two performance spaces to the precinct, along with an array of artist support spaces and a café.

Its design rejects the traditional idea of a theatre – a conventional black box hidden behind a façade – and instead embraces openness and transparency, with a draped concrete curtain drawing visitors inside.

In its citation, the jury applauded the centre’s animated interior, which emboldens audiences to engage with performance and is a “feast” of theatrical references.

“The tent-like timber ceiling is reminiscent of a big top, enhancing the spatial narrative and paying homage to early travelling circuses,” the jury stated.

“The grand stair, highly detailed, serves not only as a functional element but as a dynamic stage for side performances.

“These deeply referential design elements are deployed with a refreshing energy and a delightful lack of pretension.”

The jury also praised the redevelopment project’s commitment to meaningful connection with Country and its collaboration with Wadawurrung and First Nations artists.

ARM Architecture worked closely with artists Kait James, Tarryn Love, Gerard Black and Mick Ryan to showcase First Nations stories throughout the centre and celebrate the site’s history as a place of performance for thousands of years.

“Each of the building’s four levels features large-scale artworks that evoke different Wadawurrung creation narratives, weaving cultural storytelling into the fabric of the space,” the jury stated.

“The bold and evocative interior architecture of Geelong Arts Centre is an inclusive celebration of creativity and storytelling, inviting audiences to both witness and partake in unique cultural experiences.”

The jury also highlighted the highly functional nature of the centre’s support spaces, which it said enables “a variety of new performance modes and possibilities”, while its “well-resolved” support spaces provide “efficient connections and flow within the building”.