Sensational-Adelaide.com

rev wrote:

Nort wrote:Seems like a strange location for a hotel to me, that western side of the building is going to be overlooking a giant barren area of train tracks.

Western side of the Intercontinental has views of those majestic train tracks already...

I really don't like what they are doing with it to be honest. They are keeping the old hotel, and adding some modern glass boxes in front fronting North Tce.
Good opportunity to demolish the existing hotel and build something modern and glassy with curves.

Ho Really wrote:And..the old Exhibition Hall on North Terrace? That's a definite for a makeover or it will remain a black sheep.

Ho Really wrote:Thanks for that Wayno. So it looks like it's going to be a facelift. About time.

The aerial really does show you how the Convention Centre site was a stuff-up from the beginning. The Exhibition Hall was just plan ugly for starters. The current Convention Centre although not a complete failure (in looks), was given that wasteful curved facade. Now they are adding bits that don't have any continuity. To me it looks like the whole thing was thrown together without much thought. A bit like a rustic pizza! I know it will be functional, or else they wouldn't be building it, but the whole site could have looked much better.

Pity, there wasn't any vision put into this. They should have known that there was a possibility of using the whole site up to the Morphett Street Bridge from the start! Maybe they should have designed it (and built) so it was modular. A bit like what they intend to do with the Adelaide Airport as it expands, where I'm sure they'll keep some similarities in the design of what is already there. In the case of the Convention Centre: reclad the the old Exhibition Centre (as they'll probably do) and keep the current Convention Centre as is, but expand it with similar lines (gentle curves). A colour change like they are doing now, is OK, but minus the spiky angles. Instead we're going to get two new buildings on either end (which aren't bad in their own right) that have nothing in common with the current curved building in the middle. Go figure.

Cheers

P.S. I wasn't advocating something like the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, which looks like a sea slug (nudibranch), so let's get things straight

Nort wrote:The exterior appearance of the new parts of the centre has little to do with forward planning, if they wanted to the architects could have very easily designed extensions that looked like they were part of the original design.

I prefer the site looking like a collection of smaller buildings. The current curved glass wall looks great from the Torrens, but something like that taking up the entire site would be far too overbearing.

Eurostar wrote:What are they doing on the western side of that carpark under the Morphett Road bridge, i saw a CAT thing moving the dirt.

This afternoon I watched Building Ideas on channel 9 and got interested in whats happening and how it will look by 2017, i like how part of the design is inspired by the Flinders Ranges. I look forward to seeing the project completed, pity it'll take so long

Adelaide Festival Centre to get $400 million overhaul



PRIVATE investors will be invited to help pay for a proposed $400 million re-development of the Adelaide Festival Centre amid warnings touring shows will bypass the venue unless it is upgraded.

The Sunday Mail can today reveal that Arts Minister John Hill has presented a business case to Cabinet calling for a multi-million-dollar overhaul of the centre and surrounding festival plaza.

The business case - prepared by consultants Ernst & Young - recommends a decade-long investment program, including:

• * A 350-SEAT theatre and a cinema added to the Dunstan Playhouse complex;
  
  * NEW foyers and rehearsal spaces throughout the centre;
  
  * EXPANDED four level, 1360 space carpark;
  
  * A PLAZA revamp - already flagged in the Riverbank Precinct Masterplan - creating a single-level "Festival Square" with cafes, a super-screen and other facilities for community and arts events, modelled on Sydney's Opera House forecourt and Melbourne's Federation Square;
  
  * LANDSCAPING to open views and access between the River Torrens and King William St, and;
  
  * A NEW children's playground.

The proposal also recommends a daily program of entertainment to cement the centre as the city's natural gathering point, linked to an upgraded Adelaide Oval. Crucial to the funding plan is a proposed multi-level commercial building to be built next to Parliament House.

The 10-year plan forecasts a range of economic dividends from the investment.



An artist's impression of the Festival Centre precinct. Picture: Chris Mangan Source: AdelaideNow

However, with the State Government struggling with broader economic issues, it appears major funding will come from the private sector, with firms invited to be joint partners in retail, hospitality and other associated ventures.

The 2011-12 State Budget provided $750,000 for preliminary work, including the business case which estimated the redevelopment's economic potential at $2.82 billion over the next 24 years, creating about 26,000 full-time direct jobs and employment in related areas such as hospitality, retail, accommodation and transport.

It forecasts attendances to shows will quadruple with an upgrade in coming years, while warning that unless something is done, "shows increasingly will not come and audiences will decline".

The 40-year-old Festival Centre was singled out in a 2010 Arts SA report criticising the state of Adelaide's arts venues.

Last September, the Sunday Mail revealed former Premier Mike Rann was pushing for an upgrade of the centre and that funding for a masterplan was being put aside.

Festival Centre chief executive Douglas Gautier said the upgrade could be funded by a mix of public and private investment.

"This infrastructure is necessary both for the AFC to retain its place as one of the Asia Pacific region's premier performing arts and entertainment facilities and for the Riverbank Precinct to become a fully integrated and iconic public space," he said.

"This big picture imperative requires the delivery of a world class arts, recreation and leisure precinct.

"It is more than just moving people in and out - it is about giving them great reasons to stay within it."

Mr Hill's media spokeswoman said any future funding for the centre could include private sector investment as demonstrated by similar arts-based developments overseas.

"It is just a proposal at this stage and was not funded in the last Budget, but it is important to have the planning work done," she said. The centre averages 900,000 attendances a year, at more than 1100 events.

Spending on the Riverbank precinct already includes $535 million on the Adelaide Oval redevelopment, a $30 million oval carpark and wetlands, $394 million on the Adelaide Convention Centre expansion and footbridge, and the $1 billion Bowden-Brompton development.