Adelaide Festival Centre Dressing Rooms

The Adelaide Festival Centre is Australia’s first multi-purpose arts venue. The complex includes the Festival Theatre, Dunstan Playhouse, Space Theatre and several gallery and functions spaces. Despite substantial redevelopment around the Adelaide Festival Centre including the plaza, many of the non-public areas had received little attention or upgrade since the opening of the Festival Theatre in 1973.

In 2021-22, Swanbury Penglase was engaged to upgrade the backstage area of the Festival Theatre following the precedent set by the recent redevelopment of Her Majesty’s Theatre. Upgrades to the backstage area included the backstage entrance, Star and Chorus Dressing Rooms, Orchestra Assembly Room, backstage offices, workshops, plant and storage areas and stage access.

Acknowledging the heritage significance of the design features in the backstage areas, the design seeks to interpret the existing character and detail of these elements so that the original values are transferred. This included the repainting of bold colours as a method of wayfinding and colour-coding, the design and selection of joinery finishes and the application of hexagonal patterns in the setout of floor finishes and in the material selections.

The original colours were updated with less “strident” tones and the system of colour-coding was reinterpreted in its application as ‘gateways’ along the backstage corridors. The use of colour was extended within the dressing rooms with the selection of bold red finishes in the Star Dressing Rooms and yellow features in the Chorus Dressing Rooms. With the application of dark painted ceilings and flooring throughout the result is a dynamic and lively transformation of the backstage areas befitting the status of Adelaide’s premier theatre venue.