Bay Pavilions is the Eurobodalla Shire Council’s new destination for arts, aquatics and leisure activities. The Bay Pavilions is made up of two core destinations – the Arts Pavilion and the Aquatic Pavilion.
The Aquatic Pavilion is home to a 25m lap pool, warm water pool, gym, water slides and splash park. On the other side of the structure, the arts and cultural centre features a large, flexible, flat floor auditorium with retractable seating for 350 people, dressing rooms, green room and storage, gallery/exhibition space, rehearsal/dance studio/music room, workshop spaces and meeting/multipurpose rooms.
Architects NBRS, working in conjunction with Donovan Payne Architects, worked closely with Theatre Consultant Richard Stuart to ensure that the theatre would cater to the needs of the community.
“They wanted a flexible, multi-purpose space which can be a worry for us theatre consultants as you can never achieve it all!” laughed Richard. “Originally, they wanted a black box studio with mobile seating banks to move around the space. We then refined that to a traditional end-on studio space with retractable seating. That way you can have a stage show with seating or pull the seating back to use the flat floor for cabaret, meetings or rehearsals, in an operationally cost-efficient model.”
The stage is nine metres deep, plus a metre forestage, with a 14-metre proscenium opening although it typically operates at 12 metres. HME Services supplied and installed stage masking comprising black legs on tracks and black border curtains on manual winches. They also supplied mid and rear stage traverse curtains, a soft proscenium border and leg curtains, the main curtain track and control system and white cyclorama cloth on a motorised hoist line “to protect the cloth from damage!”
The main curtain is an interesting gold/bronze colour to match the interior design of the venue. The motorised main curtain track and motorised scenery batten hoists allow flexibility and ease of use.
The Dance Rehearsal Studio features Velour tab curtains installed on a perimeter curtain track to cover the Mirror Wall and windows when required.
Over stage, HME supplied four motorised stage lighting bars with energy chain cable management and stage lighting ladders and ladder tracks to each side of the stage. The venue features two lighting bridges FOH, a control room, a follow spot room and box booms in the auditorium.
”It’s a traditional flat floor studio theatre in that sense whilst allowing it to be as flexible as possible to allow it to grow into whatever it wants to be,” said Richard. “The project was a challenge for everyone with Covid and supply chain impacts but HME delivered a result that is excellent and well received by local audiences.”
