Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography, FacadeCairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Exterior PhotographyCairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography, ChairCairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior PhotographyCairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - More Images+ 17

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Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Andrew Watson

Text description provided by the architects. The Cairns Performing Arts Centre and associated Parklands is the key new Civic offering for the culturally rich city of Cairns in North Queensland. The design responds to the city’s dramatic Tropical setting.

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Exterior Photography
© Andrew Watson
Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Exterior Photography
© Andrew Watson

The building is part of a Cultural Precinct with Munro Martin Parklands which combined delivers a main Proscenium Arch theatre of 950 seats, a 400 seat Flexible Studio, and an external Performance Amphitheatre with a capacity for 3,000. The project reflects a commitment to both residents and the broader region with links to the Torres Strait and the Islands of the Pacific Rim.

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography, Facade
© Andrew Watson

Integrated indigenous Art was commissioned from distant Erub Island in the Torres Strait with the unique recycling of found nylon fishing nets. Performance is integral to indigenous cultures in North Queensland and CPAC provides a support network for emerging talent, vocations in drama, and for touring performances.

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography
© Andrew Watson

The building is a form in the round’ with sculptural massing that accommodates a tall fly tower within a cohesive form. The tropical response is distilled in the foyer’s solar screen that faces northwest to the adjacent Parklands. Landscape colours and the traditions of weaving contribute to the complexity of a screen that changes expression through night and day providing diffuse light to the foyer.

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography, Chair
© Andrew Watson

The arrangement of the bar to work both internally and externally responds to both the setting and a relaxed Cairns lifestyle. Interiors further explore a rainforest sensibility with a dramatic timber battened space that achieves acoustic tasks and contributes to the drama of the performance.

Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects - Interior Photography, Stairs
© Andrew Watson

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Project location

Address:9-11 Florence St, Cairns City QLD 4870, Australia

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Cairns Performing Arts Centre / Cox Architecture + CA Architects" 11 Mar 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/958296/cairns-performing-arts-centre-cox-architecture-plus-ca-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

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