The University of Tasmania has announced plans to build a new cultural and performance precinct on a historic site in Hobart’s CBD. The site, adjacent to the Theatre Royal, was part of a working class neighbourhood that earned a reputation as the city’s first slum, according to an archaeological report.
The new $75 million facility will be designed by local practice Liminal Architecture, together with Singapore-based practice WOHA, headed by Australian architect Richard Hassell, and Arup.
It will be the home of a new education and research hub dubbed the Creative Industries and Performing Arts development. As well as this, the Conservatorium of Music will have a new building which will be connected to the Theatre Royal.
The university has begun an archaeological investigation of the site. The heritage impact statement describes the site as “of historic cultural heritage significance because of its direct association with Hobart’s early residential and commercial phases.”
Located on the corner of Collins and Campbell Street, the site was part of the neighbourhood of Wapping, a working class district at the centre of a bustling waterfront community during Hobart’s earliest settlement period. When the depression hit, the area fell into social decay.
The site also includes the former Hedberg Bros. Garage which is a rare surviving example of an early commercial garage in Hobart. The development proposes to partially demolish the garage to make way for the new building.
The archaeological investigation will be looking for evidence of “structures and/or deposits from the earliest period of Hobart Town settlement (c1804‐1830),” as well as evidence of yards and internal lane ways that could provide insight into the living conditions and material culture of the area, previously undocumented by official records.
The archaeological findings will influence the final design by Liminal Architecture and WOHA. A statement from the University of Tasmania indicates that the new building will be a “modern” and “glass” structure flanked by the heritage facade of the Hedberg Bros. Garage on one side and the Theatre Royal on the other.
The new building is expected to be completed in 2017.
