NH Architecture and Snøhetta design Melbourne’s Ian Potter State Theatre for next generation
A visionary collaboration between local and international design practices has enabled a once-in-a-generation transformation of one of Australia’s most significant performance spaces. The Arts Centre Melbourne’s Ian Potter State Theatre has reopened following extensive restoration and renewal.
Working closely with Arts Centre Melbourne and the wider Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation team, esteemed Australian practice NH Architecture has guided the theatre’s transformation as lead architect, in collaboration with the Melbourne studio of international design partner, Snøhetta.
The project has addressed the theatre at every scale – from the restoration of interior designer John Truscott’s celebrated auditorium to major acoustic, accessibility, and technical improvements. The renewal prepares the theatre for the next generation of performances while retaining the qualities that have defined the experience of the Roy Grounds-designed building for more than four decades.
The opening of the Ian Potter State Theatre is the first completed milestone for the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation, a major investment by the Victorian Government in the future of Melbourne’s cultural infrastructure.
Restoring Truscott’s vision
The Ian Potter State Theatre is renowned for the immersive character of Truscott’s interiors. Red carpets, brass balustrades and the cascading brass and gold-leaf ceiling create a heightened sense of arrival and occasion, carrying audiences from the building’s foyers into the auditorium.
Retaining this experience required an exacting process of documenting the theatre’s existing fabric and determining what could be preserved, restored, adapted or carefully reproduced. Developed in close consultation with Heritage Victoria, the retention-first approach maintained the richness and continuity of the interior while reducing waste and avoiding the unnecessary replacement of original materials.
The iconic cascading John Truscott ceiling, made of roughly 75,000 individual brass spheres – each etched with a delicate snowflake pattern – was removed panel by panel and cleaned before being carefully reinstated.
Master gilder, Marcus Walkley, originally gilded the State Theatre in 1984 and returned with a new team to work on the renewed auditorium. They hand-gilded the new acoustic ceiling details, carrying the specialist skills behind Truscott’s original interior into the theatre’s next chapter.
Reflecting on the complexity of renewing such a significant heritage interior, Hamish Lyon, Director at NH Architecture, said:
“Renewing the Ian Potter State Theatre has required us to work simultaneously at the scale of a major civic project and at the scale of an individual material detail. Our task was to understand which qualities were fundamental to Roy Grounds’ and John Truscott’s original intent, then carefully coordinate the many heritage, performance, technical and construction requirements around them.”
“As lead architect, we’ve guided that process from early planning through to delivery. It has been grounded in close listening and sustained collaboration with Arts Centre Melbourne, Snøhetta and the many specialists who have contributed to the project," Lyon adds”
Performance within the original form
The renewal presented a rare opportunity to improve the theatre’s acoustic and technical performance while maintaining the strength of Truscott’s interior.
Drawing inspiration from Truscott's design for the cascading ceiling, the new custom-moulded and hand-gilded acoustic ceiling comprises more than 20 large panels. These panels feature more than 27,000 concave and convex baubles, which help to diffuse sound across the auditorium.
"The collaboration brought the practice’s international experience in cultural and performance spaces into conversation with the particular character and context of the Ian Potter State Theatre. Cultural buildings are complex because every design decision shapes a network of experiences – ranging from how a performer hears the room, to how an audience member reaches their seat and how technical teams support what happens on stage,” says Matthew Irvine, Architect and Project Director at Snøhetta Australasia
“Snøhetta’s practice is grounded in dialogue, and our role was to bring an international perspective on performance spaces into close collaboration with NH Architecture and the wider project team,” Irvine adds.
New timber battens along the rear auditorium wall create a sound-absorbing and diffusing surface to address acoustic anomalies within the room. Speakers and other technical infrastructure have been integrated discreetly into the wall and ceiling linings.
New timber flooring was carefully selected and stained to recall the tonal character of the former carpet. The team collaborated with theatre planners Schuler Shook and Italian furniture manufacturer Poltrona Frau on the custom-designed seats. These retain the distinctive crease and back height of the originals, while timber backs and pans and the harder floor surface contribute to the auditorium’s improved acoustic performance.
A new under-seat ventilation system supplies air at low velocity, improving audience comfort and reducing background noise within the auditorium. By delivering conditioned air where audiences sit, the system also improves efficiency.
The newly integrated sound system comprises 200 speakers, 60 amplifiers and more than 12 kilometres of cabling. A new performance lighting system supports LED and moving light technologies, further improving conditions for performers, technicians and audiences.
Choice and access across every level
For the first time in the theatre’s history, patrons with mobility requirements will have greater freedom to choose where they sit across all levels of the auditorium.
New aisles have been introduced within the Stalls and Circle, while two new lifts provide access to the Stalls, where 10 wheelchair positions with adjacent companion seating and an accessible bathroom improve audience amenity. Across the auditorium, custom-designed seating includes lifting armrests and wider seating options, providing greater choice within the constraints of the heritage interior.
Two new rows extend the balcony towards the stage, helping offset the seats removed to introduce new aisles, whilst maintaining the theatre’s capacity of more than 2,000.
Designing for life behind the stage
The transformation extends beyond the audience experience to consider the performers, technicians and operational teams who work within the theatre every day. Completed backstage improvements include a new wardrobe area and Conductor’s Suite.
Continuing upgrades to the Theatres Building include a new accessible Stage Door, an expanded Loading Dock and improved backstage facilities. Creating space for these facilities within the constrained site has required a 14-metre-deep excavation behind the building and the removal of more than 15,000 cubic metres of earth. The works will accommodate a flexible rehearsal studio, an adjoining function room and expanded loading facilities, increasing the building’s footprint by approximately 16 percent.
These interventions will make it safer and more efficient to bring productions into and out of the theatre, while providing more inclusive and better-equipped working environments for the people responsible for bringing performances to the stage. These wider works will continue beyond the auditorium’s reopening.
Together, the auditorium and backstage works demonstrate how a major heritage venue can continue to evolve as a living performance environment – becoming more inclusive, technically capable and responsive to everyone who uses it, whilst retaining the identity that contributes to its cultural significance.
Photo gallery:
Interior photos by: Tom Blachford / Portraits by: Eugene Hyland
Click here to donwload high-res images
Key information about the project
- The Ian Potter State Theatre refurbishment forms part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.
- The refurbishment of the Ian Potter State Theatre is delivered by Development Victoria for Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, in collaboration with Creative Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne. Lendlease is the project’s construction partner.
- NH Architecture is the project’s lead architect, working with design partner Snøhetta and a multidisciplinary team of heritage, theatre, acoustic, engineering and technical specialists:
About NH Architecture
Established in 2004, NH Architecture is an Australian architecture and design practice creating places for people to thrive. Working across sports and entertainment, mixed use and retail, health, housing and education, the practice combines a collaborative approach with evidence-based design to create responsive, inspiring and enduring places.
NH Architecture approaches each project with an open mind and a commitment to deep listening. From community engagement to the resolution of architectural details, its work centres on the experience of the people who use its buildings and spaces.
The practice’s completed projects include the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion with Woods Bagot, the Margaret Court Arena redevelopment with Populous, and the redevelopment of Myer’s flagship Bourke Street store.