Snøhetta & Blight Rayner Architecture create new performing arts venue for Queensland

Designed by Tenderstream member Snøhetta in partnership with Blight Rayner Architecture, the new 1,500 seat Glasshouse Theatre has established the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane as Australia’s largest such venue under one roof, able to present world-class ballet, dance, symphony, opera, theatre, and musicals to the same standard. 

The design firms won the international competition for the project in May 2019, responding to a brief that called for the building to cantilever some six metres out on its two street frontages to fit the required size. The architects' idea was to create a highly transparent edge to the cantilever to minimise its visual impact. Seen through it, the theatre ‘block’ aligns with the existing building design as part of a strategy to respect QPAC’s heritage status.

The undulating glass façade was inspired by a prose-poem written by Aboriginal Elder and artist Lilla Watson, which referred to ripples of the Brisbane River and fish swimming underneath the surface. The wavy glass walls give dramatic character to the foyers, while featuring engineering that maximises thermal performance, fabricated in four layers with an intervening air gap. The facets that receive direct sunlight are embedded with a black ceramic inlay that acts as an integrated louvre to block solar penetration, optimising the building’s energy performance and minimising glare. 

The lightness of the foyer contrasts with the theatre interior, which is conceived as a cocoon of dark grey ironbark walls and rainforest green carpet. The distance from the stage to the furthest seat in the theatre is only 28 metres, contributing to an intimate atmosphere for both patrons and performers. Gumji Kang, Managing Director of Snøhetta Australasia, states: "The auditorium was conceived as a highly adaptable performance environment capable of hosting a wide spectrum of artforms…Inspired by the qualities of stringed instruments, we have combined technical precision with atmospheric intimacy, enriched by layered timber ribbons that feel quintessentially Queensland.” 

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

This tender was first published by Tenderstream on 27.11.2018 here

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