The first stage of the Cairns Cultural Centre project comprises a performing arts centre, public plaza, retail space and carparking. A future stage includes a major regional museum and other opportunities.

The project presents an exciting opportunity for our team to develop the masterplan and a creative design concept that will perform at the highest technical level, is an outstanding piece of architecture, and at the same time meets the unique demands of the community and it’s tropical climate. We are delighted to be short listed for this task and are well placed to meet this challenge.

Shigeru Ban is one of Japan’s leading creative thinkers and designers. The firm’s most recent accomplishment is the highly applauded Pompidou Centre in Metz, a project that shares the same technical complexity as the Cairns Cultural Precinct. Shigeru Ban Architects are well known for their innovative and highly sustainable buildings, many of which are made from recycled paper.
Local partner Fisher Buttrose Architects is arguably Cairns most experienced architects in designing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They have extensive experience in working across the spectrum of the local community, as well as designing buildings that celebrate and perform in a harsh tropical climate.

Having worked across the Asia Pacific for 35 years, Toland brings a depth of design and construction experience to the project team. Toland’s ‘raison d’être’ is to bring intellectual rigour, crafted detail and cultural enrichment to each project in order to develop high quality and sustainable design solutions. Toland’s Sydney team is in the process of delivering the $140M Concourse at Chatswood, a project with similar components and equally important community drivers. Toland’s experience in regional Australia extends to working with indigenous communities in the Pilbara and Willandra, and with Buddist communities in southern Queensland and Kurrajong NSW. Current international projects include masterplanning a major development in Chiangping in Southern China.

“We are honoured to have been selected for this task. The Cairns Cultural Precinct has the potential to be the premier public cultural facility in Far North Queensland and a landmark for regional Australia”, says Robert Toland, principal of Toland. “We share Council’s vision for the completed precinct as a place of cross-cultural exchange and high-level artistic endeavour – a place that reflects the identity of the people of the Cairns region.”

The Cairns Cultural Precinct will occupy a prominent position within the urban structure of the city, located on the waterfront just to the east of the Cairns Esplanade. The prominence of the site and the international reputation of Cairns as a tourist destination demands the development of a unique architectural solution that will achieve international recognition. The tropical climate of Cairns brings the opportunity for a highly innovative architectural solution. It also serves as an opportunity to reflect the rich diversity and civic confidence of the local community, incorporating the influences of the traditional owners, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the multicultural mix of the region’s inhabitants.

Our team’s approach will be to work with these local stakeholders as well as the owners and operators, the performing arts sector and adjacent land users to ensure the final design solution meets their needs and will be sustainable for future generations.

 “We are committed to learning more and exploring the rich diversity of the region in making a place for the people – a people place”, says Shigeru Ban.