Bring the stage to the streets.
At the theatre, nothing beats the emotions of the stage curtain’s first rise and regrettable fall. As our response to a 2018 Arts Centre Melbourne competition for Victorians to reimagine the ACM forecourt cafe, Protagonist's bronze-veiled exterior aims to capture these moments. We seized this rare chance to experiment with engaging public space amidst some of Melbourne’s most iconic architecture.
Raise the curtain.
The Protagonist structure activates the space in front of one of Australia’s most prominent arts precincts. As an interactive new café, bar and ticket booth, the design plays on a theatre curtain motif as a device to signify a welcoming ‘open’ or a veiled ‘closed’. Beyond key references in form, large-scale projectors allow the new structure to literally bring the theatre to the street. Upon nightfall, the mesh facade transforms, lit up by moving art projections that we created in partnership with a branding agency and digital artist, inspired by the ballet and other ACM events.
Polished steel and a Lord of the Rings polycarbonate.
Opting for camouflage over competition, our design incorporates unconventional materials and altering forms to nod to and engage with the ACM spire and bronze NGV roof. The screen material itself, however, is something less familiar. Kaynemaile, a polycarbonate mesh, was originally developed as chainmail for the Lord of the Rings movie costumes, and here it provides weather protection, welcomes dappled light within the interior, and allows for natural airflow. It also creates a singular and cohesive design form to discreetly integrate the facade’s raising and lowering mechanism.
