Arts & Community

The Performing Arts Precinct is the city’s outlet for creative performance, offering first-rate facilities for music, drama, dance and other performing arts.

One of the anchor projects in the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, the Performing Arts Precinct will draw people into the central city and provide facilities for local and touring musicians and performance artists.

Visitor Solutions was appointed to lead the development of the Christchurch performing arts precinct feasibility study.  This study was holistic in nature, all of the parts were interconnected, and therefore needed to explore the development of the precinct but also focus on its primary anchor facility, the Court Theatre.  The large theatre with studio performance spaces, teaching theatre, back of house, foyer and offices was seen as a major attraction for the performing arts precinct. The study involved developing urban design approaches, facility concept design, governance and management models, operational models, financial models, costings and procurement plans. Visitor Solutions worked with a variety of consultants including Deloitte.

Te Oro is a creative facility for young people from the communities of Glen Innes and Panmure in Auckland.

In this multi-purpose space young people and the local community can come together to perform, practise and learn the arts, express their creativity and talents and celebrate their cultures.

Visitor Solutions and Design Tribe were commissioned to undertake a preliminary feasibility study to examine whether a new youth-focused music and arts centre in Glenn Innes was viable and propose a number of potential sites for such a facility. Our approach included a secondary data review, Hui, asset mapping and consideration of governance, finance and management options, a preliminary schedule of spaces, potential benefits and outcomes. Extensive consultation was carried out with a range of ethnic groups, including members of the Glenn Innes Indian and Samoan communities. The report recommended a more detailed Stage 2 feasibility study should be conducted which Visitor Solutions completed in 2012.  The recommendations of the feasibility study were supported by Council and the very impressive $10 million Te Oro Youth Music and Arts Centre opened in 2015.

Visitor Solutions was commissioned to undertake a needs assessment on youth within Auckland’s Wesley area.

The research had to provide specific and detailed understanding, so we interviewed a comprehensive cross-section of the community. Interviewees range from young sports people and ethnic leaders to at-risk youth and gang members. The research found a clear need for a safe youth space in the community.

The recommendation was for a stand-alone centre, available to Wesley youth after school hours and during the weekends. Although youth programmes were seen as essential, youth identified that an accessible physical space was of higher immediate importance. Many youth were largely unaware of existing community programmes. They considered a dedicated youth centre as not only providing a safe space, but also a way of lifting the profile of existing programmes in the area.

Visitor Solutions were retained to undertake detailed planning and feasibility research. This covered demographic data, youth centre visitation, catchment areas, space requirements, site layout, revenue streams, management structures, capital and operational costs. Council subsequently endorsed the recommended option and developed a $3.2m youth centre. Visitor Solutions was subsequently contracted by the project architects to provide facility design advice.