New renderings of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot's forthcoming Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) have been released following a consultation by the Aboriginal Reference Group (ARG) that updated an original plan released by the firm earlier this year. 

The improved scheme was submitted to a State Commission Assessment Panel in Australia last week, bringing the project one step closer to realization in the hopes of providing the city of Adelaide with a new platform for First Nations artists that is both forward-looking and “wholly connected to the landscape,” according to the architect.

The design team worked together with the ARG to produce an updated plan that includes a new outdoor primary exhibition space, a more pronounced and environmental envelope, and upgraded water features inside the same 124,000-square-foot Lot Fourteen footprint featured in the original design.

“This project is a path to reconciliation, an important moment in setting the future for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people,” Woods Bagot Principal Rosina Di Maria said in a statement.

Adelaide’s Aboriginal population is made up of a conglomerate of different smaller groups known as Nunga that includes the Kaurna, a people whose earth stewardship and spiritual connections the architects and developers sought to place at the center of the project’s mission statement as echoed by Di Maria. 

“The design team’s role has always been to listen to and translate the aspirations and ambitions of the ARG into a design response,” she said. “The architecture evokes a sense of welcome to all visitors – particularly First Nations peoples – and a connection to culture offered through the human experience.”

Funding for the $200 million project came directly from federal funds as well as the state government of South Australia, of which Adelaide is the capital. Construction is slated to begin in the fall or winter with a completion date expected for early 2025.