Mudgee Arts Precinct

The Mudgee Arts Precinct Gallery sits at the heart of art and culture in north-western New South Wales. The new building stems from the long-awaited refurbishment and expansion of the former Cudgegong Shire facility, featuring office spaces, workshops, and seminar areas across the two levels. The gallery attachment contains an exhibition space for visiting collections, a tourism office, a café and back-of-house storage. BKA was involved with the master planning of the project, and the design and planning of the project took primary consideration of the broader cultural and arts strategy.

In the corner of the site, the contemporary design enhances the Victorian-era Chambers, rather than overshadowing them. Respectfully, the project roof sits two to three metres below the double-storey heritage building and is setback from the street frontage, allowing it to retain its primary view from Market Street. With projecting bays of deep red, the gallery emerges as a sculpture in the urban fabric, both a contemporary icon and a homage to Australian natural and cultural history.

This project also won the NSW Country Division Architecture Awards 2022, Public Architecture category, and was a 2022 Finalist at the World Architecture Festival in Lisbon.