The Perth Cultural Centre is to become the beneficiary of a $35 million injection, which will connect many of its cultural institutions and provide a welcome boost to Northbridge and the CBD.

Overseen by Perth-based practice TRCB, the works will see the amphitheatre demolished, with the development of a more accessible and graded streetscape. The WA Government is contributing $25 million towards the project, with the Federal Government pledging $10 million of the $1.7 billion Perth City Deal.

“Part of the work we’ve been doing for a new masterplan precinct (is) we’ve identified some really fabulous opportunities as well as some challenges and issues of the place,” says TRCB’s Fred Chaney.

“One of these is the idea of a new major public space right in the heart of the precinct. The precinct is blessed by all these incredible institutions co-located in effectively one city block.

“There’s nothing that really ties them together, and there’s certainly not a space that works as a breakout space. At the moment when you go to the Cultural Centre you go there to go to the museum, you don’t go there for its own sake. That’s a really critical outcome and objective for this project, that we can create a space where people want to go there. 

“We think it can be quite a transformational space and a new identity for the Cultural Centre.”

The WA Museum Boola Bardip, Art Gallery of Western Australia, State Library and State Theatre Centre will all be better connected once the upgrades are completed. An Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) car park will be demolished to introduce better connections to Beaufort Street and create a new children's play place.

The project will create a slew of local jobs and support tourism within the area. Increased lighting and security will make the Cultural Centre an ideal destination for families and tourists.

"The McGowan Government's commitment to this project will see the PCC transformed into a more vibrant, welcoming and accessible place for Western Australians and tourists alike,” says Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman.

"This additional State Government funding means we can deliver on more of the vision outlined in the precinct's masterplan, providing a major boost to the overall redevelopment.

"Over the past five years, we have delivered the magnificent new WA Museum Boola Bardip and the AGWA rooftop. This project will help marry the PCC's cultural institutions in a way that combines safety, ambience and fun.

To view the PCC Masterplan in full, click here.