A new and vibrant performing arts centre intended as the Western Sydney's answer to the Opera House.

Hailed as a future cultural icon for Sydney's west, the Sydney Coliseum Theatre is the Western Sydney's answer to the Opera House. It features a 2000-seat proscenium arch theatre with two tiers of raked auditorium seating, that can be reconfigured for a variety of uses - including stage shows, ballets, large musicals, concerts and symphony orchestra.

The structure consists of a concrete frame up to level 2, with a braced steel-framed structure over the auditorium, northern plantroom and fly tower. The flowing façade comprises precast concrete panels to the primary structure and cladding in lightweight materials to the auditorium plant rooms and fly towers above level 2, with a design inspired to represent aspects of a stage curtain. Situated across the road from Rooty Hill RSL, the facility has no street level entrance of its own but is connected via a pedestrian air bridge from the main club. Civil works include access road, car-parking, pavement, public domain works, and stormwater services, including water-sensitive urban design.

The unique design for this project presented a number of design challenges that required creative and out of the box engineering solutions. These included:

  • the introduction of fire rated steel hangers through the front of house foyers to maximise circulation at the ground floor level
  • long span steel trusses over the auditorium
  • custom steel framing behind the precast façade around the northern nose of the building to provide lateral support adjacent to the quadruple height foyer space.

Additionally, the tapering link bridge between the existing building and the Performing Arts Centre is designed to be structurally independent of the existing club building at the Western end and demanded an 11m column free opening in the façade of the Performing Arts Centre at its eastern end. Support for the precast concrete above the bridge opening is provided through the introduction of a curved steel façade truss concealed behind the precast concrete.

Our Civil engineers particularly focused on the sustainability elements of the project. The venue makes provision for an On-site detention and Stormwater Quality Treatment systems, and Rainwater Tank which are beneficial to the environment.

The On-site Detention(OSD) system has been designed by TTW to attenuate the Venue's peak stormwater flowrates and velocity and thus reduce potential scouring or erosion to receiving water body. The OSD system is also designed to reduce potential flooding of properties downstream of the venue.

The Stormwater Quality measures as designed by TTW which include gross pollutant traps, rainwater tank re-use and filter cartridges have been designed to limit the impact of the venue on receiving water body. They are designed to trap litters such as cigarette butts, plastic bags, and treat total suspended solids, phosphorus and nitrogen nutrients that are otherwise detrimental to water bodies.

The Venue makes provision for a 80,000 litres Rainwater Tank re-use system which reduce dependence on water supply mains.

Close collaboration with the architect, builder and the various other engineering disciplines was essential in delivering this bespoke project.

Client: West HQ

Architect: Cox Architecture

Builder: Hansen Yunken

Value: $70M

Completion: 2019

Images: Hansen Yuncken

Sector: Art & Culture

Services: Structural, Civil

Awards

  • 2020 – AIDA – Public Design Award
  • 2020 – Master Builders Australia - Public Buildings $30M and over
  • 2020 – Master Builders Australia - Best use of concrete