ARM shortlisted for Parramatta Riverside Theatres design competition
A multidisciplinary design team led by ARM Architecture has been shortlisted as one of five finalists in a Design Excellence Competition for the $180-million redevelopment of Riverside Theatres on the banks of Sydney’s Parramatta River.
ARM’s team includes UN Studio (architecture and urban design), ASPECT Studios (landscape architecture), FCAD (designing with Country and emerging practice), Supermanoeuvre (architecture) and Second Edition (architecture and emerging practice).
The City of Parramatta approved the business case for the redevelopment in January 2023 and, in August, launched a design competition that permitted international architects and designers to be part of an Australian-led design team.
The redevelopment will feature a new 1,350 to 1,400-seat lyric theatre, a refurbished 760-seat riverside playhouse theatre, a new 430-seat multi-mode drama theatre, and an 80 to 90-seat digital studio and cinema. The venue will have more than double the capacity of the existing theatre.
The design competition jury comprises Abbie Galvin (New South Wales government architect and chair), Jefa Greenaway (director of Greenaway Architects), Craig McMaster (theatre director of Riverside Theatres), Kerry Clare (director of Clare Design) and Oi Choong (founding director of Context Landscape Design).