Orange Regional Museum | Orange, NSW, Australia | 2016

Architects: Crone Architects
Client: Orange City Council
General Contractor: Zauner Construction
Photographers: Aerial / Drone Troy Pearson Ground level photography: Tom Ferguson

The architects brought cutting-edge design to rural Australia with the Orange Regional Museum– the contemporary design reflecting the current values of the Orange as a culturally progressive region with a strong arts scene.

The architects’ innovative response to the brief creates a new cultural precinct by integrating a new structure into an existing site alongside the public library and art gallery, layering the program into three parts: Building + Landscape + Events.

The building envelope maintains a line-of-sight to the gallery while creating a new civic square, event space and cafe to house new and existing art and sculpture.

The resolution of the complex, angular geometry and attention to detail was critical for a building with a minimal material palette of concrete, glazing, metal panels and grass and a continuous concrete-edge beam that wraps the entire façade, accentuating the form. 

Seating stairs create an amphitheatre and provide access to the sloping landscaped roof, a defining feature of the design that rises from the existing lawn to provide a public green space and vantage point across the city.

Blurring the distinction between architecture and landscape, the grassed area was designed for flexible usage as an outdoor exhibition area or simply an area for visitors to relax.