At first glance, the newly renovated State Theatre looks the same as ever.
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Theatre → renovate → glance
It’s still a sea of crimson and gold, brass fittings twinkling in the gentle glow of overhead lights.
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It → ’ → lights
The cascading John Truscott-designed ceiling continues to shimmer above the stage.
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ceiling → cascade → stage
And the iconic hand-painted curtain hangs in all its original glory.
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curtain → paint → glory
But upon closer inspection, much has changed.
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much → change → inspection
Every part of the grand venue, bar the walls, has been pulled apart and put back together.
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part → pull → walls
“When it’s revealed, everyone has that moment of, ‘It feels the same’, and we go, ‘Thank you, that’s great’.
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that → reveal → you
It’s the weirdest compliment for a designer,” says NH Architecture director Hamish Lyon, whose company refurbished the theatre alongside Norwegian firm Snøhetta.
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company → ’ → Snøhetta
The renovation, which began in March 2024, marked the theatre’s first significant upgrade since it opened in 1984.
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it → begin → 1984
About 2½ years later, it’s ready to reopen on Saturday – six months ahead of schedule, and bang on budget.
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it → ’ → budget
However, beyond a $15 million donation from the Ian Potter Foundation, the total budget hasn’t been disclosed.
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budget → disclose → Foundation
Significantly changing such a beloved venue can be risky.
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changing → change → venue
For this refurbishment, which was one of the first stages of the Victorian government’s Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project, Lyon says the community response was essentially: “Don’t stuff it up.”
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response → say → it
Updating and preservation thus became top priority.
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Updating → become → ?
The tweaks and additions may appear minimal, but they make a big difference.
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they → appear → difference
“It takes a lot of work to make it look like it was,” Lyon says.
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Lyon → take → work
The carpet along the aisles, for instance, has been removed, replaced with rich timber flooring.
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carpet → remove → flooring
This improves acoustics by increasing reverberation time, Lyon says – something performers from The Australian Ballet and Opera Australia (Arts Centre Melbourne’s resident companies) have enthusiastically welcomed.
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performers → improve → Ballet
A new custom-moulded, hand-gilded ceiling was installed above the stalls and circle for similar reasons.
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ceiling → mould → reasons
More than 27,000 concave and convex baubles cover the panels, helping to diffuse sound across the space while also honouring Truscott’s original ceiling design.
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baubles → cover → design
The original brass sphere ceiling above the stage, however, remains.
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ceiling → remain → stage
Detached panel by panel, the 75,000 baubles were all painstakingly cleaned before being replaced – without proper architectural drawings, Lyon notes, since the original plans were from about the late 1970s and therefore hand-drawn and approximate.
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plans → detach → drawings
The most significant updates related to accessibility, says Chris King, Arts Centre Melbourne’s director of the theatre “reimagining” project.
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King → relate → project
“We’ve introduced aisles in the stalls and the circle for greater accessibility and greater audience amenity.
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We → introduce → accessibility
That [was] one of the key features to constantly remind ourselves of: What do modern audiences want today?”
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audiences → remind → What
These aisles – along with 10 new wheelchair positions, two new lifts, and new all-gender and wheelchair-accessible bathrooms – mean that patrons with mobility challenges will have access to seating on all levels for the first time in the theatre’s history.
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patrons → mean → history
The seats themselves look familiar – they even have the same central crease – but they’re entirely new, boasting timber panels along the pan and back to further support acoustics.
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they → look → acoustics
Some are also removable for wheelchair and bariatric seating, and others have adjustable arms.
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others → have → arms
Two new rows of seats were therefore installed on the balcony to reach 2000 seats, a “magical number” for presenters, according to King.
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rows → instal → King
It was like open-heart surgery through a keyhole, getting in cantilevered steel, pumping concrete in.
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It → get → concrete
It was like major surgery while the building was actually still operating,” Lyon says of adding the two new rows.
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building → operate → rows
Hidden underneath these seats is an improved heating and cooling system.
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system → hide → seats
“Previously, the air-conditioning used to come from above, and around about 12 to 15 minutes into every show, there would be this cold air dump, and everybody would put their scarves and jumpers over their shoulders,” King says.
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King → use → shoulders
Now, the air is supplied from below at low velocity, which is both more comfortable for patrons, but also better for acoustics.
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which → supply → acoustics
“It lowers the noise floor in the auditorium.
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It → lower → auditorium
Previously, there was always this little hum, and musicians felt they needed to play louder to overcome that.
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they → be → that
Now, they don’t need to do that.”
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they → need → that
Another new cleverly concealed element is the sound system, which consists of more than 200 speakers, 60 amplifiers and more than 12 kilometres of cabling.
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which → conceal → cabling
This has all been carefully integrated into the refurbished theatre, tucked inside wall recesses rather than bulkily hanging over aisles.
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This → integrate → aisles
Perhaps most reassuringly to theatre regulars, the famed house curtain remains.
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curtain → remain → regulars
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
