Cairns Performing Arts Precinct

Performance is integral to indigenous cultures in North Queensland and CPAC provides a support network for emerging talent, vocations in drama and touring performances.

The building is a form ‘in the round’ with sculptural massing that accommodates a tall fly tower within a cohesive form. The object of this design was to achieve an evocative and vibrant civic offering to residents and tourists alike. The new theatre and studio theatre provide a larger more varied cultural offering for Cairns and the region. The relationship between the new CPAC and the redeveloped Munro Martin Park has been a main conceptual driver for the project.

The main foyer runs parallel to Florence Street affording views from the foyer to the park. The large volumes of the theatre fly tower and studio theatre are softened by the lower volumes of the foyer, administration, and BOH wrapping around them.

The three-storey foyer opens to a landscaped entertainment terrace to provide a dramatic civic space that enliven the internal and external visitor experience. All venues are accessible from this foyer which creates a simple legible circulation path for patrons. The arrangement of the bar to work internally and externally responds to the setting and the relaxed Cairns lifestyle.

CPAC reflects a commitment to residents and the broader region with links to the Torres Strait and the Islands of the Pacific Rim. Integrated Indigenous Art was commissioned from distant Erub Island in the Torres Strait with the unique recycling of found nylon fishing nets. Interiors further explore a rainforest sensibility with dramatic timber battened spaces that achieve acoustic tasks and contribute to the drama of the performance.