Arts Centre Spire - Melbourne Arts Centre

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Arts Centre Spire

 

The Arts Centre is a development in the Melbourne Arts Precinct that is home to concert halls and theaters. It is on the Victorian Heritage Register, and it can be found in the inner portion of Victoria’s Southbank. The Art Centre is beside St. Kilda Road and the Yarra River.

The center was designed by architect Sir Roy Burman Grounds, one of the chief proponents

of the modern movement in Australia. Construction for the Arts Centre started in 1973.

The development was opened in phases. In 1982, Hamer Hall opened, and in 1984, the Theatres Building followed.

The Melbourne Theatre Company, the Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Opera Australia regularly perform in the Arts Centre. Several international productions are also hosted

in the Art Centre including the Royal Shakespeare Company.

What is most unusual about the Arts Centre is that the concert hall and the theaters are underground. Hamer Hall was originally designed to be an almost completely subterranean structure so as not to interfere with the dramatic view of the Arts Centre spire, Flinders Street Station and the river.

However, due to problems with the foundations, the building had to be raised three floors above ground.

Budget constraints also led to a shortened un-clad version of Grounds’ Theatres Building.

Eventually, this was replaced with the magnificent towering un-clad spire that stands proudly today.