Italy-based architecture firm Studio Fuksas and Guida Moseley Brown Architects are to collaborate on designing a new convention centre in Canberra, Australia.
Named Australia Forum, the structure will feature wavy floors and a bulging, elliptical roof and will be located in the centre of Canberra at one apex of the National Triangle.
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The 27,000m² convention centre will house a 3,000-seat plenary hall, a ballroom with a capacity to accommodate 1,500 diners and an exhibition hall, as well as administrative offices, meeting rooms, storage and shops.
Studio Fuksas and Guida Moseley Brown Architects team has been selected to provide the preliminary designs to The Land Development Agency, the governmental arm responsible for developing and selling land on behalf of the Australian Capital Territory Government.
American architect Walter Burley Griffin included this area in his master plan for the city.
Concept drawings for the centre highlight a transparent form with an undulating roof, as well as a floor structure on a tree-lined plaza.
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By GlobalDataSlated for completion in 2020, the project will be partially funded by public-private partnership.
On 2 February, the Canberra Business Chamber and Canberra Convention Bureau released a report entitled Australia Forum – and its Potential Economics Benefits.
According to the report, Australia Forum is intended to drive new accommodation infrastructure projects, while helping to position Canberra as a business events destination.
Construction of the convention centre is expected to result in a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 2.4 over 20 years.
Canberra Business Chamber CEO Chris Faulks said: "This compares well with other convention centres and similar economic infrastructure projects.
"It is important to assess this BCR only against like projects because an economic investment such as this should have a higher BCR than social or community investments, which provide returns other than purely financial ones."
Image: The new Australia Forum convention centre in Canberra. Photo: courtesy of Canberra Business Chamber Limited.
