Perth Arena

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Perth Arena by ARM Architecture and Cameron Chisholm Nicol is a contemporary indoor sports and entertainment venue for a wide variety of high profile events. Completed in 2012, it is an iconic building and a landmark for Perth. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: The project references puzzles, the twelve-sided 1829 Fremantle Round House, and Renaissance visions for the Ideal City. These ideas were brought together using elements of the Eternity Puzzle: the equilateral and half triangles of the puzzle geometry agglomerated twelve giant puzzle pieces in the form of abstract maps, trucks and swans to be stood up around the twelve sides of the arena's inner bowl. The highly-complex project sought to provoke symbolic interpretation and to create extreme variability from every angle. This project exemplifies ARM's radical architecture, and their contribution to the dissemination of ideas and the dialogue around the development of an acute, experimental and critical architectural culture in Melbourne and, more broadly, Australia. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The project won the prestigious Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, and the Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, at the 2013 Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) National Awards. At the 2013 WA Chapter Awards, the project was received the state's top honour - the George Temple Poole Award - along with the Jeffrey Howlett Award for Public Architecture, an Interior Architecture Award and the Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture. According to the jury citation, it is 'a building of great visual complexity, outstanding functionality, a building that has captured the imagination of the general public and delivers for Perth an iconic piece of public infrastructure.' The project demonstrates the significance of ARM's practice, which was awarded the AIA's 2016 Gold Medal - the highest award of the AIA to recognise distinguished service by Australian architects.