The Busselton Entertainment Arts and Cultural Hub project has reached another milestone with the City of Busselton Council awarding the design tender for architectural services.
At its meeting last night, councillors unanimously endorsed Kerry Hill Architects Pty Ltd as the preferred tenderer for Stage 1 of the project which will see the development of a 600 seat performing arts and convention centre in the Busselton Cultural Precinct.
Kerry Hill Architects Pty Ltd is a multi-award winning, Western Australian based firm with direct experience working on several theatre projects including the WA State Theatre Centre.
After an extensive evaluation process, Kerry Hill Architects Pty Ltd were ranked first in a pool of five architectural firms invited to tender for the project on the strength of their submitted Expression of Interest.
Kerry Hill Architects Pty Ltd was also given top standing by a field of external consultants specifically engaged by the city to review the panel's evaluation and recommendation.
City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley said the design concepts presented by Kerry Hill Architects were considered superior in terms of sophistication, form and functionality.
"We were also particularly impressed with the architect's incorporation of design elements that will help activate Queen Street and create unique community spaces for visitors to the Cultural Precinct," he said.
"Importantly, and this was verified by expert heritage advisors, the design concept proposed by Kerry Hill Architects is sympathetic to existing surrounds.
"It provides an interesting and important contemporary contrast to the Weld Theatre and ArtGeo without conflicting or dominating these historic buildings."
At the same meeting council resolved to remove Stage 2 of the project from the current scope of works until further investigation is undertaken into the viability of alternate sites within or close to the Cultural Precinct.
Stage 2 involves the development of a specialist hub encompassing a sound proof recording studio and other facilities to support growth in creative industries such as film, TV, commercial radio and other existing and emerging areas of audio/visual production.
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The city will now enter into contract negotiation with Kerry Hill Pty Ltd with the view to progressing with more detailed designs over the next four to six months and ultimately awarding the building contract in the second half of this year.
"This project will drive job creation, generate income and provide many new opportunities for local people," he said.
"Council shares the community's excitement and enthusiasm for the project and extends its thanks to the many community members who contributed to the development of the tender brief.
"The strength of this brief is reflected in the quality of tender submissions received."
Stage 1 of the project has been funded by $10.35 million from the Australian Government's Regional Growth Fund and $10.97 million from the city, generated, in part, through revenue from the sale of the old library site in Mitchell Park.
