First images by HASSELL + OMA for New Museum for Western Australia

31/08/2016. [Perth - WA] Australia
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA

The New Museum for Western Australia is developed in the heart of the Perth Cultural Centre, acting as a gateway to explore all of Western Australia.

Aerial Hackett Hall Plaza. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

Aerial Hackett Hall Plaza. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

View to the city from inside. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

Hackett Hall Plaza. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

Hackett Plaza Entrance. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

State Library Francis St. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

Street façade. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

View with projections at night. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA

The New Museum for WA will be almost four times bigger than the existing WA Museum - Perth, featuring nearly 7,000 square metres of galleries, including a 1,000 square metre space to stage large scale temporary exhibitions. It will also feature learning studios, spaces to see the behind the scenes work of the WA Museum as well as exciting retail and cafe spaces.

The $428.3 million project includes:

the design and construction of a new building that integrates with the existing heritage buildings
heritage restoration works to Old Gaol, Jubilee, Beaufort and Hackett buildings
$1.6 million public art project at the New Museum Perth site
the design, production and installation of Museum content including collections, exhibitions, multimedia and artworks for gallery and activated circulation spaces
$17.3 million Harry Butler Research Centre at the Museum’s Collections and Research Centre, Welshpool

Brookfield Multiplex architects Mark Loughnan, from HASSELL and David Gianotten from OMA explain the design inspiration:

"Our vision for the design is to create spaces that promote engagement and collaboration, responding to the needs of the WA Museum and the community.

We want it to be a civic place for everyone; an interesting mix of heritage and contemporary architecture that helps revitalise the Perth Cultural Centre while celebrating the culture of Western Australia on a world stage.

Perth and WA has a dramatic natural landscape, unique history and diverse population. We have tried to capture all these elements and celebrate them within the design concept.

The scale of the natural landscape is reflected in the large public space at the heart of the design; the city's history is celebrated by the integration of the existing heritage-listed buildings, and its stories which have driven every aspect of the Museum design.

The design is based on the intersection of a horizontal and vertical loop creating large possibilities for curatorial strategies, for both temporary and fixed exhibitions."

Description of project by HASSELL + OMA

International design practices HASSELL + OMA have joined leading global contractor Brookfield Multiplex and the Western Australian government to reveal the design for the highly anticipated New Museum for WA.

The reveal comes as the contract to design and build the New Museum was officially awarded to the Brookfield Multiplex-led team.

The HASSELL + OMA design, to be located in the heart of Perth’s cultural precinct, has been conceived as a collection of physical and virtual ‘stories’, providing a multidimensional framework for visitors to engage with the Western Australian people and places.

HASSELL Principal and Board Director Mark Loughnan, and OMA Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten stated: “Our vision for the design was to create spaces that promote engagement and collaboration, responding to the needs of the Museum and the community. We want it to create a civic place for everyone, an interesting mix of heritage and contemporary architecture that helps revitalise the Perth Cultural Centre while celebrating the culture of Western Australia on the world stage. The design is based on the intersection of a horizontal and vertical loop creating large possibilities of curatorial strategies for both temporary and fixed exhibitions.”

At the heart of the design is a public space that is the central point of the new museum, in terms of both location and programming. It is a spectacular outdoor room framed by refurbished heritage buildings and intersected by new buildings and virtual platforms, enabling the diverse stories of Western Australia to be told.

A large new temporary gallery space will complement the extensive permanent collection of the museum that includes renowned collections including the much-loved Blue Whale skeleton. The Museum will host a diverse range of cultural, retail and dining experiences, increasing visitor numbers especially after hours.

Early works are expected to start in late 2016 with main construction starting in 2017. The New Museum is due to be completed in 2020.

More information

OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis. OMA's buildings and masterplans around the world insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use. OMA is led by ten partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten, Chris van Duijn, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Jason Long and Michael Kokora – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha and Dubai.

OMA-designed buildings currently under construction include Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Qatar National Library, Qatar Foundation Headquarters, Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale in Caen, Fondation d’Entreprise Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Bryghusprojektet in Copenhagen, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, and Faena Arts Center in Miami.

OMA's recently completed projects include Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015); Fondazione Prada in Milan (2015); G-Star Headquarters in Amsterdam (2014); Shenzhen Stock Exchange (2013); De Rotterdam, a large mixed-use tower in the Netherlands (2013); CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012); New Court, the headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London (2011); Milstein Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (2011); and Maggie's Centre, a cancer care centre in Glasgow (2011). Earlier buildings include Casa da Música in Porto (2005), Seattle Central Library (2004), and Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003).