[VIS] New Concert Hall

[dbl96]

'Tenders open for city concert hall but Govt wary on funding' as reported by InDaily

Key quotes:

The Government this month released an open public tender to develop an “initial scoping study” determining the viability and vision of the proposed venue.

...

“The work will include consultation with key stakeholders to understand the need for a new Concert Hall, and may ultimately feed into a strategic business case,” the spokesperson said.

It comes after the Government announced there would be delays to the construction of the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, while a mooted city sports stadium has been put on the back-burner due to COVID-19’s budget impact.

It's surprising to me that the government has to tender out for this sort of study? Is our public service so denuded that we haven't the expertise anymore, which is really just basic research? In any event, it's a 10-week turnaround so presumably an answer before the year is out.

Also, nothing mentioned about an arena being delayed unless the government has conflated that with plans for the stadium. WCH and Aboriginal cultural centre were also both supposed to commence build this term, so yet more inaction there.

You know how the Liberal governments work, they run blindly into investing in sporting infrastructure but then spend a stupid amount of money on excessive scoping studies for anything relating to the arts and then shelve it once the findings come back, when from the get-go, that money could have been better used funding a small portion of the arts. A concert hall doesn't need this kind of study done, there's an actor tenant there and waiting (the ASO) and they will likely increase their annual programme if and when such a facility is built, there are various national chamber music groups and quartets in Australia that can use the venue and then it also opens us up to hosting international groups who want to use the venue. It's a no brainer.

Scoping studies and consulting reports are almost always a massive scam and waste of money for the taxpayer.

The recommendations they bring back are normally no more insightful or detailed than what you would get if you asked anyone with half a brain to think about the issue for an hour.

Yet these reports can cost tens of millions of dollars. Where is the money going? 10 million dollars would be enough to pay 100 people to work full time for a year on the report, each earning $100,000 dollars each. That is definitely not what is happening. Instead, the money is being pocketed by the multinational consultancies like PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG and for the most part is not spent on anything benefiting South Australia.

Why do governments continue to waste astronomical sums of money on these reports? Because it makes them look like they are doing something, when they don't actually have to money or will to actually do it. They can announce or promise a "planning study" or "business case" investigating the possibility of a project. Combined with some glossy renders of what said project might look like, they make the average voter think that the project is actually going to built.

[SRW]

Finally had a look through the devapp documents for the Walker tower, and found another little easter egg that seems to confirm the government's intention for a concert hall at AFC:

This follows from the St Peter's Cathedral vision that accidentally leaked the concept art:


This is exactly where I'd like to see it, so I hope the budget tightening won't have killed it before it's launched. Although, I'm not sure it'll be much of vote-swinger if they're holding out for the next election campaign.

[Patrick_27]

Finally had a look through the devapp documents for the Walker tower, and found another little easter egg that seems to confirm the government's intention for a concert hall at AFC:
Screen Shot 2020-11-16 at 10.49.13 am.png

This follows from the St Peter's Cathedral vision that accidentally leaked the concept art:


This is exactly where I'd like to see it, so I hope the budget tightening won't have killed it before it's launched. Although, I'm not sure it'll be much of vote-swinger if they're holding out for the next election campaign.

I have it on good authority from someone directly linked to the ASO that there are already very details plans for this development in this location put together by the the Marshall government and they have every intention of funding it, they're simply sitting on it until things improve economically and other projects (i.e. the indigenous gallery gain further momentum). I wouldn't be surprised if we see something from this in the new year.

[PeFe]

New concert hall is still on the state government's agenda.
From In

SA looks interstate and overseas for concert hall inspiration

Music venues across Australia, Asia, the United States and United Kingdom are being examined by the SA Government as it considers whether to build a new purpose-built concert hall for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.


Melbourne's Recital Centre has been considered in a SA concert hall scoping study. Photo: Codex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A long-awaited draft scoping report analysing the need for an acoustic concert hall in Adelaide has been handed to the State Government and key arts stakeholders.

The report, commissioned by the State Government in June last year and completed by local architecture firm Baukultur, analysed the benefits of building a new concert venue in Adelaide to serve as a home for the Adelaide Symphony and Youth Orchestras.

It was initially due to be complete last year but the Government didn’t appoint Baukultur to conduct the scoping work until November.

A spokesperson from the Department of the Premier and Cabinet told InDaily that the Government had so far spent $165,800 on the draft scoping report.

“Once finalised following industry consultation, it is envisaged the report will be made available more broadly,” they said.

The Department said the draft scoping study short-lists options for a concert hall in Adelaide and considers the proposed venue’s governance model.

Several multi-million-dollar concert halls across the globe were also analysed as case studies.

They include Melbourne’s Recital Centre and Ian Potter Southbank Centre, The Sage music centre in Gateshead in the United Kingdom, EMPAC and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, Singapore’s Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and the Tongyeong International Music Hall in South Korea.

The Melbourne Recital Centre opened in 2009 and cost the Victorian Government $74.5 million to plan and build.

It features two auditoria, the largest of which seats up to 1000 people over two levels.

Sage Gateshead, which opened in 2004 at a cost of over £70 million, is both a concert venue and centre for music education.

New York’s EMPAC – or Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center – is a multivenue arts centre that seats 1200 people in its concert hall.


The Sage in Gateshead. Photo: Neil Turner from Sowerby Bridge, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons


EMPAC in New York. Photo: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

According to government tender documents released last year, building a concert hall in Adelaide could boost music careers, attract more international students, and serve as a hub for music research.

The documents stated the proposed new venue could be managed by a governance board “with significant State Government involvement” similar to the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority or the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust.

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra managing director Vince Ciccarello has long-called for the State Government to invest in a concert hall, telling InDaily previously that the orchestra’s most regular performance venue, the Adelaide Town Hall, placed the ASO at a disadvantage as it had inadequate capacity and facilities.

Ciccarello has also called for the proposed concert hall to be “much more than just a high-quality auditorium for classical and orchestral music”, providing music education and community services “to become a home of music in South Australia”.

Once the scoping report is finalised, the Government will start developing a full business case that will analyse the viability of building a concert hall.

The Department said work is already underway to “define key elements of the business case”, which was funded in the State Budget and is due to be complete by the end of this year.

An underground, three-level concert hall was once included in early plans for Lot Fourteen at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site, but it has since been removed.

Other potential sites for a concert hall that have been flagged by local architects include Elder Park and Botanic Park.

It comes after the State Government last night released the final design for the $200 million Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre slated for Lot Fourteen.

https://indaily.com.au/news/2021/08/06/ ... spiration/

[PeFe]

Keeping all this stuff in the same place

From In Daily

Bold concert hall vision for Festival Plaza
Respected South Australian architect Guy Maron has created an ambitious new vision for an Adelaide concert hall, to be situated between the Festival Theatre and the Dunstan Playhouse.

Written by David Washington


Guy Maron's design for a concert hall, to be located between the Festival Theatre and the Dunstan Playhouse. Image: Guy Maron

This is the second recent concert hall design by Maron, whose acclaimed record over more than 50 years of practice includes the Bicentennial Conservatory in the Adelaide Botanic Garden and the original City West campus of UniSA, but his new idea is particularly striking in its design and proposed location.

Maron wasn’t commissioned by any official bodies to produce the design; he’s developed the concept to create ongoing momentum for the idea of a concert hall to serve as a beacon for music performance and education in Adelaide.

The 1500-seat hall design is circular – meaning audience members would be close to the action – with the building’s grand entrance abutting the Festival Plaza to the south, and the northern aspect floating over public areas on the riverbank side, anchored by a single column. The external cladding materials are designed to match the current Festival Centre.

The concert hall’s design includes an interior circular public promenade, with views over the Torrens, with elevated galleries above the promenade for art and musical instrument displays. Behind the scenes, he has allocated office space for administrators, and heavy instrument stores.

Maron told InReview that despite Adelaide’s designation as a UNESCO city of music nearly six years ago, it remained the only capital city without a concert hall.

To fix this anomaly, he is calling his new concert hall design “The UNESCO Centre of Music”, with a vision for it to become a hub for education as well as a home to a range of South Australia’s fine music ensembles.

“Adelaide is the first and only designated city of music in Australia and member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network,” he said.

“Despite this, and curiously, Adelaide is also the only (capital) city in Australia without a concert hall.”

He suggests the new centre should have the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as the anchor tenant, with others such as the Adelaide Youth Orchestra, the Adelaide Chamber Singers, Young Adelaide Voices, the Artaria ensemble, the Australian String Quartet, the Seraphim Trio and Adelaide Baroque, also using it as a base.

In this way, it would be “much more than a concert hall but a centre of education as well”.


An interior view of Guy Maron’s design.

Maron wasn’t commissioned to produce the new design, rather he’s keen to continue to push the case for a concert hall for acoustic music performance.

The ASO has no permanent performance home, instead using the Adelaide Town Hall and the Festival Theatre as options when available. While the Town Hall has good acoustics, it suffers from poor backstage facilities and limited seating.

InDaily reported early this month that a long-awaited draft scoping report analysing the need for an acoustic concert hall in Adelaide has been handed to the State Government and key arts stakeholders.

The report, commissioned by the State Government in June last year and completed by local architecture firm Baukultur, analysed the benefits of building a new concert venue in Adelaide to serve as a home for the Adelaide Symphony and youth orchestras.

The Government has promised to release the report “more broadly”, once it is finalised following industry consultation.



An illustration of Maron’s design, seen from the Festival Plaza entrance, with the Festival Theatre to the right and the Dunstan Playhouse at left.


The proposed site plan for the plaza, with the concert hall between the two existing theatre complexes.

Maron has had a long involvement with South Australia’s so-far fruitless quest for a concert hall, saying he was first brought in by Liberal minister Di Laidlaw to consult on a feasibility study in the 1990s. That process was scrapped, due to a lack of funds.

In 2020, he released designs for a hall he saw being built on the Torrens riverbank.

He concedes his latest design would offer some challenges, including the fact it is proposed for the heritage-listed Festival Centre precinct.

However, he believes the concept would enhance the performing arts precinct.

“While there are many, many South Australians who support the need for the concert hall, the fact is that it would require an investment of some $150 million by the government and, with the current state debt, any construction could well be a long way off,” he said.

“But that doesn’t mean that those who will benefit – the ASO and others – should not continue to campaign for a home for South Australian music. I will!”

Maron told InDaily he had sent the designs to Premier Steven Marshall, who is also arts minister.

“It was a speculative submission from me to the Premier’s Department but I didn’t get any answer – no acknowledgment, not a word.”

At least at one point, Maron did have Marshall’s attention: he was asked to produce designs for the then Opposition Leader’s bold plan for an Aboriginal arts and culture gallery at Lot Fourteen, in the lead-up to the 2018 state election.


Guy Maron wants to keep the concert hall push alive

The ASO has advocated for many years for a concert hall.

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra managing director Vincent Ciccarello has previously said that such a venue should be “much more than just a high-quality auditorium for classical and orchestral music”, providing music education and community services “to become a home of music in South Australia”.

Once the scoping report is finalised, the Government will start developing a full business case that will analyse the viability of building a concert hall.

An underground, three-level concert hall was once included in early plans for Lot Fourteen at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site, but the designs were never adopted by government.


Maron’s image of the proposed concert hall, as seen from the west towards Morphett Street.

https://indaily.com.au/inreview/design/ ... val-plaza/

[Nathan]

The casino expansion already pinched awkwardly close to the Dunstan Playhouse, and this concept would crowd the area considerably more. There's no good reason for trying to wedge it in the middle of the Festival Centre.

[Patrick_27]

The casino expansion already pinched awkwardly close to the Dunstan Playhouse, and this concept would crowd the area considerably more. There's no good reason for trying to wedge it in the middle of the Festival Centre.

Wait, so what you're saying is that they shouldn't build a live entertainment venue amongst a designated live entertainment facility because a casino imposed itself on said live entertainment facility?

[citywatcher]

The casino expansion already pinched awkwardly close to the Dunstan Playhouse, and this concept would crowd the area considerably more. There's no good reason for trying to wedge it in the middle of the Festival Centre.

Wait, so what you're saying is that they shouldn't build a live entertainment venue amongst a designated live entertainment facility because a casino imposed itself on said live entertainment facility?

No that's not what he said.

Sent from my SM-A515F using Tapatalk

[omada]

Agree that we need a concert hall, but this design is arrogant and disrespectful to the Festival Centre.

[whatstheirnamesmom]

Design looks stunning. I like that it is in keeping with the 70s architecture of the Festival Theatre and Dunstan Playhouse, but with a modern twist. The minimal ground footprint is nice, too.