Kingston Arts Precinct

The Kingston Arts Precinct (KAP) will be a special place. Its unique character will arise from its purpose as a mixed-use environment centred on artsACT facilities.

KAP’s physical presence will celebrate both the Precinct’s history and future. 

Under this masterplan, the KAP will be unique and distinct, rather than an extension of the existing Foreshore environment. It has been shaped by the spatial needs of the artsACT facilities and a public realm that is both the connective tissue and generator for the life of the Precinct.

In laying out this vision we have thought deeply about the nature of the public realm and the best ways to enhance the presence of the heritage buildings. In doing so we considered how the buildings related to each other in the past and how this could inform the Precinct’s future.

The KAP site has different characteristics from the rest of Kingston Foreshore. When combined with the Precinct’s unique arts uses, this will result in a distinctive physical environment.

The public canvas will be faced by the buildings of the Arts Hub, oriented along the axis of the historic railway line, centred on the power station and fitters’ workshop, and connected to the bordering Kingston Foreshore through linkages.

The historic buildings of the power house, fitters’ workshop and former transport depot become emblematic within the urban canvas. The bounding new buildings reinforce the external street alignments and create linkages, providing excellent permeability and framing views of heritage buildings and the public canvas.