Page 10 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

In Pursuit Of Perfection:

Elisabeth Murdoch Hall and John Sumner Theatre

Decades of change to transform the
once tatty southern entrance to
Melbourne into the Southbank cultural
precinct is nearer completion after the
opening of two superior venues.
The precinct encompasses the Arts
Centre - Hamer Hall, the State
Theatre, the Playhouse - the National
Gallery of Victoria and now, the
Melbourne Performance Centre, and
the new home for the Melbourne
Theatre Company, the John Sumner
Theatre.
Technically, the gem of the group is
probably the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
(EMH) within the Melbourne
Performance Centre, a 1,000-seat
auditorium designed for fine music in a
setting that will allow ‘freedom of
expression in the best possible form.’ The open weave exterior of the Melbourne Performance Centre (right) almost dissolves
Rarely does a design brief stress a the barrier between inside and outside.
vision of ‘uncompromised acoustic, The seemingly zig-zag exterior to the left of the Recital Centre is the new home for the
architectural and artistic programs’, Melbourne Theatre Company.
much less follow through on it. Yet this
is what Melbourne audiences has been
given. It invites comparison with the
euphoria over possibilities for the
Sydney Opera House. The analogy is
a bit of a stretch, but in both cases
international skill was melded with
local, and the finished works gave the
public a new experience.
The new experience at the EMH is
acoustic perfection. The design team
was led by Ian McDougall of Ashton,
Raggat McDougall (ARM) and the UK
based Arup Acoustics.
ARM’s Ian Mcdougall said of the
project, “We searched for a meaningful
architectural response to classical and
acoustic music performance in the 21st
century. We began with the shoe-box -
the shape that experts say guarantees or
predicts acoustic perfection”.
According to McDougall, one
hurdle for an architect was accepting
that the room would have to be box
Looking towards the city from the Level One foyer.
shaped. But once this essential
‘boxiness’ was acknowledged, the Both images from EMH website
process was to create ‘a remarkable
room of spectacle, surface and sound.’

10 2009 CINEMARECORD