The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is about to get a $150m facelift
A folded glass facade that mimics the ripples of a theatre curtain is set to become the new face of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, after the Palaszczuk Government recently announced Blight Rayner Architecture and Snøhetta as the winning tender to design its new theatre.
Scheduled for completion in 2022, the ambitious redesign includes a new 1500-seat theatre and rehearsal studios that double as performance spaces – facilities which are expected to deliver capacity for an additional 260 performances and 300,000 visitors every year.
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Bathed in light pouring through the transparent glass facade, the multi-level foyer will offer views of Russell Street, South Bank, and the Brisbane River. Picture supplied
Blight Rayner + Snøhetta’s glass-heavy design was one of five considered by the Palaszczuk Government as part of an international design competition overseen by Queensland Government Architect Chair, Malcolm Middleton, who said the winning design modernised the centre whilst staying true to its roots.
“The concept design succeeds in creating a new contemporary image for the site whilst respecting the inherent values of the Gibson precinct. [It] will glow by night and sparkle by day with just a glimpse of the glass visible from the city side,” Mr Middleton said.
The project will create more than 100 jobs during construction and over 40 after completion, and will cost a total of $150m, of which $125m will come from the public purse.
The new auditorium will have 1,500 seats. Coupled with the introduction of numerous rehearsal spaces, it will deliver capacity for 260 additional performances every year. Picture supplied
“My Government’s commitment of $125 million towards the $150 million new theatre is the largest investment in Queensland arts infrastructure since the Gallery of Modern Art,” said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“The new venue will make QPAC the largest performing arts centre in Australia.”
The Palaszczuk government first announced it was considering investing in a new 1500-seat theatre in November 2015 – a development which met with criticism from local economist Gene Tunny, who wrote on his Queensland Economy Watch blog at the time that “the theatre would be a complete waste of taxpayers’ money”.
When the Palaszczuk government announced in May 2018 that it had given the green light to a new $150m theatre at the QPAC, Tunny doubled down on his initial comments, describing the development as “another good example of government activity crowding out private sector activity”, after it effectively forced Foundation Theatres to shelve its plan to build a new $25m theatre as part of the Queen’s Wharf development.
The project will cost $150 million, of which $125 million will come from the public purse. Picture supplied
Despite supporting the building of a new theatre, Shadow Arts Minister Dr Christian Rowan expressed similar grievances to Tunny’s following the unveiling of the new theatre’s design.
‘We’re disappointed that Labor didn’t take up the private sector’s proposal to contribute to a brand new theatre as part of the Queen’s Wharf development,” he told the ABC.
“Under Labor’s arrangements, taxpayers are forking out six times what they would have had to if the Government had supported the original concept and project.”
