Geelong Arts Centre wins National Award for Interior Architecture
Geelong Arts Centre (Stage 3) by ARM Architecture has won a National Award for Interior Architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Awards, held Thursday 7 November in Adelaide.
According to the jury, the interior architecture of Geelong Arts Centre reimagines traditional ideas of a theatre by embracing a more inclusive and accessible approach.
Jury citation
The interior architecture of Geelong Arts Centre reimagines traditional ideas of a theatre by embracing a more inclusive and accessible approach.
Audiences entering the building step behind the curtained external facade. The animated interior is a feast of theatrical reference, and the audience is emboldened to engage with performance. The tent-like timber ceiling is reminiscent of a big top, enhancing the spatial narrative and paying homage to early travelling circuses. 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 project’s commitment to meaningful connection with Country is evident through its collaboration with Wadawurrung and First Nations artists. 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.
Performance spaces are highly functional and the flexible studio space opens to the street, enabling a variety of new performance modes and possibilities. Well-resolved support spaces provide efficient connections and flow within the building.
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 2024 National Architecture Awards jury was made up of: Yun Nie Chong RAIA, founder and architect at Nie And Co Architects; Naomi Stead Hon. FRAIA, professor at RMIT University; Stuart Tanner LFRAIA (chair), immediate past national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, director at Tanner Architects; Jemima Retallack RAIA, director at Retallack Thompson; Paul Owen FRAIA, founder and architect, Owen Architecture.
Read the full overview of this year’s awards via ArchitectureAU.