Walsh Bay funding to include Sydney Theatre Company redevelopment
Walsh Bay’s transformation into a world-class cultural arts precinct will be bigger and better than originally planned thanks to an additional $68 million in NSW Government funding. Last week Minister for Arts Don Harwin announced the increased contribution on top of the $139 million committed in 2015 through the Cultural Infrastructure Program.
“Arts is so important to this state and that is why our Government is investing in key cultural infrastructure projects to ensure generations to come can enjoy and appreciate art and culture to the fullest,” Mr Harwin said.
“We believe Walsh Bay will become a renowned cultural precinct in Asia Pacific and this investment reflects that. The precinct will host up to two million people every year and the extra funding will give them better access to a special experience.”
The increased funding includes $30 million for Sydney Theatre Company’s (STC) proposed refurbishment, which will be its first significant upgrade in 30 years. Mr Harwin said the new funding will help make the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct a vibrant and world class hub for the performing arts.
“A unified build of the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct with the Sydney Theatre Company will provide a range of cultural benefits to the people of NSW,” Mr Harwin said. “It will attract visitors and boost the economy, while preserving the wharfs’ iconic heritage. Further, it gives the STC facilities and a home it deserves as one of the world’s most highly rated and professional theatre companies.”
The STC’s Wharf Renewal Project will build on 30 years of history. STC’s first Artistic Director, Richard Wherrett, who oversaw the design of the Wharf, acknowledged at the time that artistic compromises had to be made.
According to a statement on STC’s website Wherrett wrote: “In my original discussions with designing architect Vivian Fraser, I had wanted what is now called Wharf 1 to be a more fully flexible space in which the seats could be removed and replaced in any configuration the director wanted, but the money wouldn’t stretch to that.”
Amongst other improvements, STC’s Wharf Renewal Project will deliver modernised Wharf 1 and Wharf 2 Theatres with flexible seating configurations, just as Richard Wherrett had envisaged.
Upgraded facilities include new foyer spaces, rest rooms and a raised ceiling in the workshop. Rehearsal spaces will also be altered to include sound-proofing and full-size spaces, while artist dressing rooms on the Wharf will also be improved.
Two new accessible public entries, one midway along the Wharf and one at the bar, will offer opportunities for visitors to engage with and enter the building from the harbour-side promenade – both of these entries will have lifts. Hickson Road will also include a more welcoming entry point.
STC’s Wharf Renewal Project has been led by consultations with a cohort of theatre-makers and designers who work regularly with STC. Their knowledge and love of the building and their experience as artists have been instrumental forces in shaping a vision for the future of the Wharf.
This artistic input, together with the input of STC staff and audiences, has been teamed with the expertise of specialist consultants, including HASSELL (architect), Charcoalblue (theatre consultant), Tropman & Tropman Architects (heritage architect), ARUP (building services, fire engineering, sustainable design), Taylor Thomson Whitting (engineer) and MBM (quantity surveyor).
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