Image Credit : Derek Swalwell and Shannon McGrath
Project Overview
The Round is the new cultural hub for the Whitehorse community. Welcoming and inspiring, it is a place for both the everyday and special event; both a premiere performance and events facility, and base for a diverse range of local community and business groups, artists, performers, and patrons alike.
For Millennia this place has been recognised and used as ceremonial ground, for the convergence of many. Whitehorse, Nunawading or Namenarren – it is a place of many names and myriad stories.
A building in the round its curvaceous perimeter creates a series of opportunities for place-making and community programming. Five Faces, Five Places. Unified through brick, some big, some small, each forges a robust, enduring and proudly civic presence responsive to its immediate context.
A whole of site strategy the new precinct integrates architecture, landscape, ecology and infrastructure towards a new and engaging model for a suburban civic centre.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
BKK Architects + Kerstin Thompson Architects
Team
BKK Architects + Kerstin Thompson Architects
George Huon, Kerstin Thompson, Simon Knott, Jennifer Salter, Claire Humphreys, Georgia Hocking, Lauren Garner, James Flaherty, Kanyanta Chipanta, Grant Dixon, Javier Lopez-Manchero, Toby Pond, Ewan Carson, Kelvin Chai, Lauren Dornau, Elizabeth Mason, Luke Tuckman, Mario de Bem, Jennifer Chen, Christopher Harber, Nicole Mechkaroff, Sarah Cooper, Jack Lee, Tamsin O'Reilly, Hilary Sleigh, Marc Sullivan, Ashlee Pukk
Builder - KANE Constructions, Building Engineering
Structural + Civil + Mechanical + Hydraulic + Electrical + Fire Engineer - WSP
Acoustic Engineer - Acoustic Studio
Quantity Surveyor - Rider Levett Bucknall
Building Surveyor - Philip Chun
Town Planner - Contour
Landscaping - Aspect Studios
Wayfinding/Signage - Buro North
ESD + DDA Consultant - Architecture & Access
AV + Theatre + Lighting Designer - Schuler Shook
Project Brief
Designed by BKK & KTA the new buildings and landscapes establish a precinct that consolidates City of Whitehorse’s vision for liveability and inclusivity, as well as its cultural diversity and vibrancy.
The Round is a new hub for performing arts and culture in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Beyond its interior heart - the proscenium theatre - its arms outreach to and are formative of an enriched public realm.
The Round hosts performances, events, and conferences, and welcomes local community and business groups, artists, school groups, performers, and audiences. It caters to professional-standard artists as well as community ones, combining technical excellence with the character of an approachable suburban civic facility.
The Round features:
• 626-seat proscenium arch theatre with orchestra pit and full fly tower;
• 200-seat black-box studio theatre opening onto outdoor sound shell stage, natural amphitheater and lawn;
• Multipurpose rehearsal/dance studios for local dance schools;
• Function/conference center seating 300, divisible into three 100-seat venues;
• State-of-the-art back-of-house facilities of a technical standard suited to professional performers;
• Foyers;
• Double-deck carpark.
The spaces are hardworking and flexible: full of architectural and AV functionalities to make them configurable for multiple uses. They balance everyday community activities with dedicated events.
Designed in the round, every side is a place in The Round. There is no back, no dead zones, but rather an array of delightful landscapes from which the community can choose depending on the weather, their company, activity, or mood.
Project Innovation/Need
The design reflects a deep commitment to community and sustainability. The client was adamant about sourcing all Australian materials to support local businesses and to align with their vision for a community that values its natural environment, history, and diversity. The scheme draws inspiration from the local vernacular and former manufacturers, including brick and tile producers. There was significant research and development invested in developing mass-functional seating, ensuring it was made locally with Australian fabric.
Melbourne designer Ross Didier created the furniture, adding a tactile and welcoming touch. Victorian lighting designer Edward Linacre created bespoke lighting, demonstrating the commitment to local talent. Additionally, Australian spotted gum was selected for the theatre and foyer, and tessellated bathroom tiles reference the area's tile manufacturing history.
We salvaged a leadlight artwork from the arts center The Round replaces. “The Meeting Place”, by David Wright and Graham Stone with local glass artists, has a prominent position in the window of an upstairs room overlooking the foyer.
Each space has a distinguishing material palette: the classic rich red and gold in the auditorium (reminiscent of Arts Centre Melbourne's State Theatre) and acoustic timber wall battens highlight comfort and warmth.
The project seamlessly combines technical excellence with the warm, approachable character of a suburban civic facility. It hosts performances, events, conferences, local community groups, artists, and school performers. The 626-seat proscenium arch theatre, 200-seat studio theatre, amphitheater and lawn, and rehearsal studios cater to diverse needs.
Design Challenge
The building is on a generous council-owned site surrounded by suburban parkland and plenty of mature trees. There is a residential area to the immediate north and northwest, the carpark and sporting fields to the east, Whitehorse Road and the council buildings to the south, and parkland to the west and southwest.
The building needed to face and respect all these contextual influences: it could have no back. Therefore, we have designed it in the round.
The concept grew from a map we created with each of the contextual influences as a circle. The area left between the circles became the building’s footprint: a shape with five concave curved façades, each embracing a separate landscape territory. The building is multifaceted, both functionally and in its attitude and character.
Each curve extends the façade length and views and creates interesting-shaped spaces, both inside and out. Where the façades meet, there are openings, each with a specific viewpoint or access point, and curated sightlines in and out.
The façades are clad in brick, both for its face-value aesthetic quality and to use locally made materials. The City of Whitehorse area has a long history of brick manufacturing, including the Box Hill Brickworks (the 1880s to 1980s) and the Burwood Brickworks which, in the 1950s produced 100,000 bricks a week for new eastern suburbs homes.
We won the project in a highly competitive design competition, where the in-the-round concept was born.
Sustainability
Design strategies include renewable power generation with the inclusion of solar panels, as well as a holistic building management system that considers zoning to reduce heating and cooling output. A highly insulated building envelope meets the air sealing requirements of NCC 2019 Section J as well as the design intent through high construction quality. Externally, lighting includes predominantly solar-powered lighting for external car parks and precinct lighting.
Local sustainability is emphasized through the selection of hardwearing, low-maintenance materials, considering carbon offsets and a substantial percentage of recycled content. For instance, Australian-produced bricks and locally assembled brick snap structures reduce carbon production. Internally, recycled glass and Shaw EcoWorx carpet tiles, which are 100% carbon offset and third-party certified by SCS Global Services, were utilized. When suitable, rapidly renewable natural materials are chosen, along with products, materials, and finishes containing high post-consumer content. Timber products are sourced exclusively from responsibly harvested forests.
To facilitate end-of-life management, the design incorporates options for products and materials that can be disassembled, recycled, or upcycled. Notably, the brick snap, timber elements, and carpet are examples of components with potential for demounting.
An ESD consultant developed a 'net zero pathway' to guide the client in adopting future initiatives for achieving net zero carbon in operation. Additionally, a comprehensive waste management plan has been formulated to ensure appropriately sized on-site collection facilities divert recyclables from landfills. The City of Whitehorse will assess an operational waste management plan addressing specific waste types.
Architecture - Public and Institutional
This award celebrates the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow.
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