A Culture of Creativity and Innovation
The Workshops will integrate a culture of creativity and innovation into the social and economic fabric of the community. This extends the broad creative traditions of the site’s industrial past, and embodies the transition from an industrial to a creative economy.
Creative Industries
A dedicated Creative Industries Centre will be situated within the old Foundry building and the Pattern Shop. Attracting renowned working artists and designers and artisans, this will be home to interactive, multidisciplinary studios that engage residents and visitors.
This will be a truly unique facility and will set The Workshops apart from other urban developments. To ensure it achieves its ultimate potential, the MRA has partnered with FORM, the State’s peak professional body for contemporary design to foster cultural connections and design collaborations at a national and international level.
Education
The Workshops redevelopment will include an education dimension. This is aimed at forging training links between the creative, design and artisan-focused industries in the precinct with entrepreneurial and intellectual property outcomes.
It will also promote a culture of innovation and sustainable creative activity through education, reviving the learning tradition of the site. Integrated community learning
initiatives will bring a special energy into the heart of this urban development.
Performing Arts
The Workshops site has a long history of supporting the performing arts, and the redevelopment provides a variety of settings for such theatre, adding vitality and interest to the outdoor landscape. Concerts, festivals and innovative street theatre will become part of the social fabric of life here. The main Square has the potential to host large-scale celebrations that mark significant cultural, sporting or even political events.
Public Art
The creative character of the site will be embodied in bold and original public art that reflects past and future. Acclaimed artist Warren Langley has been awarded a public art commission to create a monumental day and night sculptural work, as well as a series of lighting special effects around the precinct.
Cultural History
The cultural history of The Workshops will be brought to life across the site. An interpretive programme will detail the history of the Midland Railway Workshops and tell the stories of the workers, the work processes and the labour history. Walk trails, retained machinery and site features, interpretive signage and podcasts will inform and enthuse, while contemporary public art and commemorative features, such as The Workers’ Wall, will reflect on the rich past while looking to the future.
