Designer Choice Architecture
Theatrical Renewal
Ashton Raggatt McDougal's recently completed Melbourne Recital Centre and Mebourne Theatre Company buildings set a theatrical tone to the growing Southbank Arts Precinct. The two combined buildings have distinct but complimentary treatments. The firm cleaned up at the recent Victorian Institute of Architecture Awards, receiving accolades in the public architecture, interior design and urban design categories, and it's easy to see why.
The Melbourne Theatre Company building is a simple black box that is transformed by illuminated geometric framing. ARM's metaphor for the blank stage, invigorated by the actor, certainly makes a statement on approach from St Kilda Road, where the framing plays Escher-like tricks on the eye, suggesting depth and movement.
The Melbourne Theatre Company's main theatre is illuminated with quotes from 70 plays. The 500 seat auditorium boasts excellent site lines and a feeling of intimacy, despite its size.
The Melbourne Recital Centre has a different facade treatment though, typically of ARM, experimentation with geometry is also apparent.
The main recital hall, the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is lined with routed plywood sheeting which improves the acoustic performance of the space. The intricate routed detailing of the panels gives the impression that the whole space is carved from a single piece of timber. This draws an analogies between itself and Sir Roy Grounds' Hammer Hall at The Arts Centre which is designed with an abstracted opal motif.
The whole Southbank precinct really has changed dramatically in recent years, furthering Melbourne's reputation as the cultural capital of Australia.