JOONDALUP PERFORMING ARTS AND CULTURAL FACILITY BY CRAB STUDIO

It is our belief, from an observation of life and the part played by places of entertainment and creativity that they should offer themselves as something more than just a collection of ‘set-piece’ experiences.

They should be memorable but friendly. Unambiguously well facilitated but suggesting that you can do more things than you expected – at every turn.

So we propose a building that is more than one thing; a place that makes the place, somewhere that creates a real heart to the City of Joondalup and opens to gather the Community into a great Central Space filled with life and 'goings-on'.

The lyrical profile of the theatres and galleries that nestle around the under the big roof of the Central Space are distinctive as an embrace.

The strong curved forms of the main elements emerge from the ground and open to a generous expansion of Central Park and the Jinan Garden.

The terracing at the North, the bridge that links the bars and restaurant, the gentle glide up and around the Central Space, the slightly raised gallery, the outreach of the bar and restaurant towards the park – all of these are suggesting or reinforcing the serendipitous nature of a place where you can enjoy yourself drawn into the camaraderie of things seen and done.

The building is therefore fashioned as a series of looking and listening spaces. The lightness of the Central Space at the core – the foyer and gallery is played against the relative solidity and air of expectation suggested by the completeness of the theatre buildings.

The main forms are made from concrete that is pulled, rasped and pigmented to resemble both in colour and surface like great wave-like land formations. The big roof by contrast is a series of thin and simple decks with slivers.

Location: Joondalup, Queensland, Australia 
Architect: CRAB studio 
Project Team: Sir Peter Cook, Gavin Robotham, Ting-Na Chen, Tim Culverhouse, Jenna Al-Ali, Fatemeh Ghasemi, Hsin ying Jen, Mars Chuang 
Associate Architect: Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects 
Consultant Teams: Theathre Plan 
Area: 10,000m2 
Budget: $ 78,000,000 AUD 
Year: 2013 
Client: City of Joondalup 
Status: Shortlisted for 2nd Stage; Awaiting result