ADAMSON PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
Wesley College, St Kilda Road
Wesley College’s Music School provides a central and dedicated facility for the St Kilda Road Campus to celebrate its creative arts education programme, bringing together the departments of music, performing arts and digital arts, while also a presenting a centrally located Middle School Hub that closely connects with existing built and landscaped elements.
Each department has varying requirements that dictate their location within the building and are expressed externally through different façade articulations.
The building incorporates a purpose-built auditorium and stage with associated backstage, side stage, and fly tower as well as a dance studio and drama theatrette, new staff administration areas, recital spaces, a band room and additional flexible spaces suitable for teaching and rehearsal.
At the heart of the new building, an exceptional space referred to as the ‘sound chamber’ features a grand stair that also functions as an engaging and flexible events platform. Spaces within the building are connected by materiality, voids and a continuity of form, creating the feel of a single volume that morphs as it rises through the levels, to bring in natural light and provide access to each floor.
Presentations and performance venues
From conferences and events to awards nights and special performances, we have a range of venues to suit you and your audience.
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Adamson Hall – flexible seating for up to 580 and full audiovisual facilities.
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Cato Room – flexible seating for up to 170 and full audiovisual facilities.
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Waugh Room – flexible seating for up to 30 and full audiovisual facilities.
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Senior School Lecture Theatre – seating for 170 and full audiovisual facilities.
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Smorgon Atrium – a multipurpose area that seats up to 100.
The size and type of internal spaces generates a rhythm across the exterior, working to complement the striking representation of the school’s crest that has been ‘carved’ into the facade of the building.
Offering exceptional facilities – with individual spaces for band rehearsals and recitals, as well as tuition studios, multi-purpose classrooms and recording studios, the design of the building offers a network of spaces outside of formal classroom settings for collaboration and allied activities that stimulate interaction and the exchange of information.
The team at Moving Light designed a standard lighting rig in the venue that even today is still multi functional for all types of events and productions that occur throughout the school. In the first design concept MLP in association with Richard
Stewart decided upon a full conventional lighting rig, but after putting plans to paper decided upon the mixture of a
LED Par 150 w rig as a backwash and sidewash.
The lighting rig also consisted of Source Four ETC 25 / 50 profiles, Source Four ETC 25 / 50 junior profiles, 1200 watt fresnels,
LED cyclorama batterns. The control system used was of an ETC ION (9 DMX streams) lighting desk, 148 dimmer controls,
Ethernet throughout the building, DMX throughout the building.
Moving Light Productions were commissioned to design the standard lighting rig with the intension of the rig being able to be used for plays, musicals, concerts and school presentations. Lighting designer Jason Bovaird came up with a lighting plan taking into account the large 4 mtre front thrust. The front thrust is used a lot by the students so the ability to be able light from all angles was of importance, this meant the installation of side booms on the walls DS and US of the thrust.
