The Victoria Police Bands perform at formal police events, official State functions, in schools, for charities, and at community events throughout Victoria. The bands often host school groups, provide music education workshops, conduct masterclasses, and occasional recording sessions.
The Victoria Police Bands are comprised of distinctly different musical ensembles, performing a wide-range of styles and repertoire. Together, the bands include nearly 50 musicians, all sharing the same rehearsal facilities. The new studio design is an upgrade to buildings being used previously, but which had never been adequately fitted out for musical rehearsal. As a result, the previous facilities were a cause for occupational health concerns due to the excessive sound levels the musicians were being exposed to within cramped conditions. The new design exploits space available within an old drill hall by the inserting a new, freestanding studio structure within the existing structure.
In addition to the main studio, the musicians now have high quality individual practice rooms as well – including one which doubles as a recording control room, with direct visual connection into the main rehearsal studio.
A collaborative approach evolved during design of the studios, underpinned by a driving necessity to refine the best possible design – within the available budget. This approach required continuous engagement between our acoustic consultants, the architect, quantity surveyor, and structural engineer. The payoff for the project was however clear, with immediate control of projected costs possible – right from the earliest stages of the design process.