Designed by Williams Ross Architects and opened in February 2006, Drum Theatre is a 521-seat performing arts centre located in the heart of Dandenong, on the site of the former Dandenong Town Hall.
Maintaining the 1890s heritage face whilst breathing new life into the site proved challenging.
The Willimas Ross Architects’ team addressed this successfully by creating a glazed internal atrium that celebrates both the old and new buildings.
Expressed as a dramatic, modern “drum”, the theatre envelops the auditorium, foyer amenities, and fly-tower as a single, strongly coloured form.
Upon receiving a Public Architecture Award by the AIA (Australian Institute of Architects) in 2007, the AIA said: “The architects have woven the entirely new and complex program of the theatre (with its myriad of flexible spatial and technical requisites), into the site with skill and maturity, demonstrating a clear and practical understanding of the brief, and programmatic and contextual parameters.”
Project Details
Project Budget – $13,000,000
Completion Date – 2006
Project Team
Architecture
Williams Ross Architects
Williams Ross Architects are specialists in aquatic, sports and recreation, cultural and community services, and education design. The firm provides services in pre-design analysis, building design and documentation, construction, and project management.
Photography
John Gollings
John has been the photographer of choice, the go-to guy for many Australian architects.
He is renowned for his ability to almost always compose the best shot, the one defining image that makes a building memorable, etches it into the psyche.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2022 Williams Ross Architects. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 John Gollings. All Rights Reserved.
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