St Patrick’s College expanded its Sturt Street campus with a new Performing Arts Centre. This impressive new addition to the College was designed by Wardle Architects, renowned for the multi award-winning Ballarat GovHub and Bendigo Law Courts designs.
This new Performing Arts Centre creates an important community space within the College. An inspiring facility, it has the capability to convert to multipurpose mode to host a wide range of events including school assemblies, drama/music performances and community gatherings.
The building is wrapped in a precast concrete façade, forming the shape of a stage curtain. The large auditorium space has retractable / fixed seating systems, accumulating to an 810-person capacity. The northern end of the building serves as a teaching and learning space featuring Ensemble, Percussion and Band Rooms as well as 5 individual teaching studios for one-on-one music lessons.
The building is also equipped with a state-of-the-art theatre and AV system, allowing the school to entertain high-end performances and provide theatre production students with an on-the-job learning experience.
Large operable walls and bifold doors allow the ensemble room to transform into an outdoor entertainment area, with musicians inside playing to an external audience in arranged external seating.
