Ian McDougall, ARM
Ian McDougall, ARM, Architect
The Geelong Arts Centre Little Malop Street Redevelopment is designed by the award winning Victorian architectural firm ARM. Through our People of the Project series, we highlight Ian McDougall, ARM Architect, and discover ARM are dedicated to the Geelong project and the wonderful sense of history, place and community it represents.
ARM embarked on this project with the view to create a significant regional arts centre that would be a new type of facility, that 'broke the mold' of performance venues, and would be a must-visit destination full of surprises and excitement. Together with the design team of experts from across fields, Ian points out that ARM's vision for the project was to create a building where many elements and spaces are brought together to represent and speak to a whole culturally diverse community – and the sense of it creating a journey, an adventure, an exciting place to be.
"The greatest thing about working on the project is working with the Geelong Arts Centre’s team and their enthusiasm and ambition to make this something that has never been seen before. It’s a great privilege to be able to work with that history of developing the brief and developing the ambition, and now actually it coming into being - it is really a remarkable privilege.”
When asked what he loves most about the project, Ian talks about the co-design process with Wadawurrung and the community engagement with First Nations groups on themes, which integrated First Nations culture into the building fabric in a meaningful and connected way.
"The co-design process with Wadawurrung has been really rewarding for us and an exciting element to see come through in the design. I think it is a remarkable collaboration between the First Nations groups and the technical team; a first for any arts centre in Australia."
Within the building, the design theme is centered around sea, land and sky, and visitors will see and experience these important elements through visual story-telling such as the ripple effect on water, the Moonah forests, and the night sky. As well, the inclusion of artworks by Traditional Owner Kait James and First Nations artists Gerard Black, Tarryn Love and Mick Ryan represent contemporary visual and audio art.
In conclusion, Ian says that the building is part of the campus that is Geelong Arts Centre - it isn’t just a single building. "The open design connects it directly to the community, not just physically, but in the way that it embraces the widest community aspirations''.
The Geelong Arts Centre Little Malop Street Redevelopment is backed with a $140 million investment from the Victorian Government.
Want to know more? You can hear Ian McDougall talk more about the Geelong Arts Centre Little Malop Street Redevelopment at Geelong Design Week, Sunday 20 March 1:30-3pm. Tickets available here: