WASO Recital Hall

Brief

This studio explored the redevelopment of the Perth Concert Hall precinct within the broader Perth City Deal and Riverfront Masterplan by Hassell. The brief called for a new WASO Rehearsal and Recital Hall that complements the heritage-listed Concert Hall while engaging the riverfront, public domain, and future Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

The project emphasised heritage sensitivity, acoustic performance, accessibility, and sustainable design informed by Whadjuk Noongar cultural values. Across three stages, students developed conceptual, schematic, and detailed design proposals that integrated structure, materiality, and landscape to create an inclusive and enduring civic landmark for Perth’s cultural future

Submission: September 2025

Overview

A civic landmark designed to celebrate music, community, and Country. Located along Perth’s Derbal Yerrigan riverfront, the WASO Rehearsal and Recital Hall unites the Perth Concert Hall, Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and Langley Park within a new cultural spine. The building strengthens the city’s connection to water and landscape, creating a public threshold where performance meets gathering. A cascading roof, inspired by the layered form of eucalyptus leaves, defines the architecture — shaping light, sound, and climate while evoking the Australian landscape. The result is a structure that resonates with both its environment and its role as a cultural bridge between heritage and future.

Concept

The design draws from the rhythm and layering of a eucalyptus canopy, reinterpreting natural geometry into an architectural language of enclosure, transparency, and movement. Overlapping roof planes cascade from the rehearsal hall toward the public entrance, forming sheltered spaces that filter light and air while modulating acoustics within. The hall itself is conceived as both a professional and community stage — a place of performance, exchange, and civic inclusion.
Mass timber construction, photovoltaic glazing, and water-harvesting systems embed sustainability within the building’s fabric, while yarning circles and native planting root the project in Whadjuk Noongar Country. Every structural element — from the glulam frame to the CLT ribs — contributes to a dialogue between strength and delicacy, echoing the harmony of the orchestra it was designed to serve