Continuing its history of serving the local community, this monumental colonial building has been converted into an arts house.

The challenge of the project was to advertise and present the contemporary use of the building, without compromising the historic nature of the environment.

Bold red three dimensional concrete letters were designed and placed adjacent to the building frontage to mark the entrance and represent the Arts House Graphics. An illuminated poster pillar was placed at the kerb edge to advertise upcoming events. The building frontage is illuminated with red neon, highlighting the trellis details on the roof of the Town Hall.

J U R Y ' S    C O M M E N T S
The Arts House Project, undertaken by the City Projects Division of the City of Melbourne is an exemplar of sensitive insertion of contemporary design features within a heritage setting.

The brief was to create a presence of place for the Arts House within North Melbourne’s centre, abutting streets and the community. This has been achieved by City Projects with a high level of skill through the placement of simple elements (signage, lighting and graphics) in a clever and delightful way without impacting on the heritage character/values of the North Melbourne Town Hall. The response is also notable for the way in which it allows for future adaptive reuse of the building should it be required, given that all of the elements can be removed without any impact to the existing building.

Beyond the heritage and artistic response; the project has provided a catalyst for community engagement with the Arts House generating greater patronage for its tenants and by providing economic benefits to the city and the neighbourhood – exceeding the client’s expectations for the project.