First designs for $200m Adelaide Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre

The first designs for a $200m Indigenous art gallery at Lot Fourteen, inspired by Aboriginal temporary shelters known as wurlies and humpies, can be revealed.

New concept designs for Adelaide’s Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC), to be built at Lot Fourteen.

The first designs for a $200m Indigenous art gallery at Lot Fourteen, inspired by Aboriginal temporary shelters, are being unveiled as the future centrepiece of the landmark site.

The Advertiser can reveal the long-awaited Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) concept plans, which have been based on shelters known as wurlies or humpies.

Architect Woods Bagot will develop the designs into detailed plans for the North Tce site during the next 12 months, in concert with an Aboriginal reference group led by AACC ambassador and community leader David Rathman.

Premier Steven Marshall said the striking reference design, featuring overlapping layers surrounding a central gathering space, embodied the centre’s vision as a gateway to the world’s oldest living cultures.

“The AACC will offer extraordinary immersive experiences, combining traditional storytelling with modern technology, celebrating 65,000 years of Aboriginal cultures and creating a global tourism attraction,” he said.

“We will share with the world, with great pride, the incredible stories and unique cultures of Australia’s first people, as never told or shown before.”

Construction is scheduled to start later this year and the centre is due to open in early 2025.

An aerial view of the North Terrace frontage of the Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre for Lot Fourteen.

Mr Rathman, also chair of the South Australian Museum’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee, said the reference group was striving to ensure that the centre reflected the diversity of First Nations people across Australia. The group also includes Kaurna representatives Jack Buckskin and Jessica Davis-Huynh.

Mr Rathman said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Aboriginal people to have ownership and leadership of what will become one of the state’s leading tourism attractions and to be active participants in that venture through business and career opportunities. There is a lot of excitement for this centre.”

Woods Bagot principal Rosina Di Maria said the reference design also featured fresh and saltwater reflection pools, an outdoor gallery and amphitheatre.

Lower level galleries and terraced landscapes carved from the earth provide exhibition and performance spaces, along with a gathering area for Welcome to Country ceremonies.

Ms Maria said the centre would “welcome visitors through a radically open ground floor, into a safe space with storytelling at its heart”.

Federal Cities and Arts Minister Paul Fletcher said the centre would boost SA’s cultural economy by driving year-round tourism.

“The centre will showcase the past, present and future of Aboriginal cultures while supporting contemporary visual, performing and multimedia arts and events,” Mr Fletcher said.

The Federal Government has committed $85m to the centre, while the state has earmarked $115m, including an extra $50m in last November’s Budget.

Woods Bagot has partnered with New York-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The duo in mid-2018 was named as the winner of an international design competition launched by the former Labor state government for a contemporary art gallery at the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site

New York-based DS+R partner Charles Renfro said his firm was thrilled to be part of a groundbreaking vision to create a place of pride that authentically honours the planet’s oldest living cultures.

“This first-of-its-kind project has taken on a new life with our continued collaboration with the Aboriginal community and other stakeholder groups, as well as our Australian design partner Woods Bagot,” he said.

“The AACC will welcome visitors through a radically open ground floor, into a safe space with storytelling at its heart. It will be a building of the 21st century, while remaining agile enough to allow future generations to evolve their own storytelling.”

Images of winning design in Adelaide Contemporary International Design Competition, by Diller Scofidio+Renfro and Woods Bagot. Supplied

Originally published as First designs for $200m Adelaide Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre