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Magical light from an invisible source
MLC Centre (now 25 Martin Place) & Theatre Royal, Sydney (construction period: 1972-1978)
An architectural masterpiece by famous Australian architect Harry Seidler. Seidler's brief was to integrate a popular existing theatre into an iconic Sydney commercial building. Renowned as the world's tallest concrete building at the time, the aim was to incorporate retail space in an L-shaped building constructed atop two levels of public space. Wallwashing of a central area forms the guiding principle: reflected light was the sole source of light, adapted according to the nature of the wall and floor finishes, and the ceiling height and foyer depth. Despite reluctance from developer Civil & Civic, Seidler insisted on incorporating large-scale artworks as part of his MLC foyer. He used direct light aimed at the vertical artworks to draw visitors in.
The MLC foyer was the first in Seidler's series of projects to be retrofitted with ERCO LED luminaires in 2013, initially 30-32 watt luminaires that, in Holman's opinion, struggled to deliver the powerful glow of the previous technology. Property owner GPT, however, under pressure to comply with environmental standards, insisted on the conversion to LEDs.
