Edith Cowan University

In September 2020, the City of Perth with the State and Federal Governments announced the successful bid of ECU’s ambitious $852 million purpose-built, 60,000 square metre university campus spanning 11 super-levels over more than 8,000 square metres of Perth City Link land in Perth’s CBD. The campus will be the educational home of 11,000 students and 1,500 staff across the University’s departments, including the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

Charcoalblue are working with lead architects Lyons in partnership with Perth-based Silver Thomas Hanley and our long-time collaborators Haworth Tompkinson, on several of WAAPA’s proposed 70+ spaces, leading the design of the specialist theatre technical systems and providing input on the layouts. These spaces include five public performance venues: the Proscenium Playhouse Theatre, Flex Theatre, Recital Hall, Jazz & Contemporary Venue and Dance Theatre, plus two Music & Performance rehearsal spaces. And five performance presentation spaces all catering to the music, dance, movement & voice, and production & design students. As the project has progressed we have been engaged with a similar scope across a number of additional spaces for the School of Art and Humanities’ WA Screen Academy, Broadcast Media Centre, Screen Production and Creative Industries Precinct to be used for various work, performance and learning in sound, broadcast and editing.

Exciting challenges have been presented to our team while working with one of the highest density and largest range of vertically stacked performance spaces in the world - which includes a three-storey fly tower in the Playhouse. Alongside solutions that consider this layout and navigating the site’s position on top of a transport hub, much of the design work has been in consultation with Whadjuk Noongar Elders, who ECU has partnered with, to inform the design and develop a cultural narrative that has influenced the work of the architects and design team.