Robina Community Performing Arts Centre by Lightwave

Located in the heart of Queensland’s sunny Gold Coast, Robina has always had strong community ties, as the home of two of the area’s most recognised institutions, Bond University and the Robina Town Centre, one of the largest shopping centres in the region. This sense of fraternity led to calls for a new community performing arts centre to be used by the public for a number of purposes, including a training and performance space, meeting place, activities centre and a purpose-built after-hours child care facility.

With this in mind, Lightwave have created an adaptable and versatile multifunctional space to act as a signature statement for the Robina State School, which the Centre is situated next to.

Funded the traditional educational way, that is, from a combination of P&C fundraising, alongside council donations, DET allocations and contributions from a private philanthropist, the finished project’s total cost was $2.25 million. Due to budgetary concerns, luxuries such as air conditioning and timber flooring were options as additions, meaning that the finishes used by Lightwave had to be both hard-wearing and cost-effective to ensure long-lasting life.

The architects envisaged simple portal construction with block-bracing walls to provide a hard-wearing and economic shell, whilst still resulting in a quality building being built.

The Lightwave team manipulated transitional spaces to offer additional spatial opportunities that enhance the building’s use, integrating the Centre with the nearby school facilities, and thus serving the core functional requirements. Set up on an East-West axis, the hall depends on the existing slope of the land, with the roof opening up towards the higher end, and a car park existing beneath the lower end. The roof was carefully designed for high performance thermal and acoustic insulation, along with the rest of the building. Inside, large louvre banks catch predominant breezes, combining with high level windows to facilitate ventilation. This is reinforced by a breezeway along the Northern face catching the breezes coming off the oval below, which then uses the slab as a type of thermal sink for winter warming. This same breezeway plays an important part in inseparably linking the two extruded parts of the building, consisting of the versatile performance space and the permanent after-hours child care centre. This area also connects the Performing Arts Centre to the Robina State School, with an open play space spilling off the forecourt joining the two.

Part of the performing section of the Centre, the back of the stage opens up, revealing a small outdoor amphitheatre, transforming a former grassy knoll into a viewing platform and outside theatre, perfect for summer productions. Lightwave’s design makes the Community Centre’s performance space suitable for any season or temperature.

An essential aspect of the original design concept called for the new Centre to stand as a quality development that addressed both the street and public face, whilst also blending with the nearby existing school facilities.

Lightwave has most definitely achieved this, with their design acting as a transitionary space between the public street and the school. From the street perspective, the roof form folds over the entry, forming a protective veil whilst hinting at internal activity. By contrast, the Northern face, with its large roof overhang welcomes school activity, whilst the forecourt links directly to the school network.

Lightwave’s careful, precise yet imaginative planning and design has resulted in the Robina Community Performing Arts Centre seamlessly integrating prevailing characteristics with new aspects and activates these connections through the existence of a variety of exciting, inspiring, functional and multipurpose spaces. +

PHOTOGRAPHY Amanda Briggs

1. The design of the hall falls gently with the existing slope of the land, emphasised in a long skillion roof that opens up to the higher end. 2. At street address, the roof folds over the entry to form a protective veil, giving hints of internal life within the building. 3. A portal frame system with blockbracing walls form the main construction of the building. 4. Open outdoor space spills off the forecourt and connects to the rest of the school. 5. Foldable glass doors open up the hall to a large forecourt and outdoor landscaped area.