The $207 million redevelopment of Sydney’s Walsh Bay Arts Precinct is now complete, after Pier 2/3 has been fully transformed.
The Walsh Bay finger wharves was used as wool stores as well as a departure point for World War Two soldiers. Pier 2/3 was the last undeveloped pier in the precinct, while the others had been adapted into a hotel, apartments and homes for theatre and dance companies.
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer were appointed by the NSW government in 2016, to reimagine the Pier 2/3 as performance venues for Bell Shakespeare, the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) and the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO), as well as refurbish Wharf 4/5 (completed in December 2020), which was already home to the Sydney Dance Company (SDC), Gondwanna Choirs and Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer designed the new precinct to retain what director Peter Tonkin called “that raw industrial sense of the timber cathedral” – while fulfilling demanding briefs for multiple cultural institutions’ long-term homes.
Walsh Bay Arts Precinct Pier 2/3 by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
Image: Brett Boardman
To achieve acoustic separation within the historic structures, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer inserted boxes into the spaces, to let each institution control its own acoustics. Mirrors on the outside of the boxes reflect the light from the bay and create the illusion that the boxes aren’t there. Additional changes include large sections of raised roof to accommodate lighting and sound equipment and retractable seating to create flexible performance spaces.
“It’s fabulous,” Tonkin said. “You can walk around directly on the water, and yet you’ve got these amazing high-quality performance companies doing their stuff. […] Not only is there this synergy of all these companies working, but you can get a little glimpse of it.”
New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure Rob Stokes anticipates the precinct, which is now home to nine performing arts organizations, will reopen in time for Sydney’s 23rd Biennale in March, drawing locals and international visitors to the CBD.
“It’s [an] amazing achievement to have a public arts and cultural hub right on Sydney’s famous waterfront with new state-of-the art facilities, while still having its iconic heritage preserved,” Stokes said.
