Perth Theatre

The existing Edwardian auditorium and proscenium have been carefully restored and refurbished to comply with current technical standards and to provide modern ‘back of house’ facilities.

A new 200-seat studio theatre, the Joan Knight Studio, has been created to cater for smaller productions, concerts and conferences. Flexible enough to allow for rapid reconfiguration and set-up, its design allows the theatre to manage its programme with events of all types, sizes and duration. 

The new venue has increased workshop spaces for creative learning and community projects, including Perth Youth Theatre, as well as vastly improved barrier-free access and facilities for audiences and visitors.

A new entrance lobby and box office hall are now accessed from the north on Mill Street, tucked beneath the studio theatre and separated from the dock by a red screen wall. The angled wall of the box office draws the visitor in to a triple-height internal courtyard, which clearly articulates a new wing of accommodation from the retained and refurbished existing structure. In this space, the brick party wall of the existing auditorium is newly revealed and washed in light from a vertical glazed screen at the rear of the foyer, and a narrow skylight above. Passing through the depth of this wall takes the visitor from new to old, and to the darker but intimate embrace of the refurbished auditorium.

This new foyer space, enlivened by cafés and bars and with vertical circulation and gathering spaces linking the new and existing levels, is the organisational locus of the new theatre complex.

Vertical planes of vivid polished plaster are edged in dark metal trim, balustrades and barriers are articulated in detail, providing varying degrees of transparency and places to sit or to stand. Structural concrete is left exposed and legible, reinforcing the circulation and clarity of the plan and section. Oak wall and ceiling linings are tactile and give warmth, while also modulating the acoustics of the various volumes. Signage is incorporated into the finishes and overall design.