LIMINAL SPACES | Geelong Arts Centre's Church
Posted 6 August 2026
The launch of CHURCH marks the completion of the Geelong Arts Centre redevelopment, transforming a cherished heritage landmark into a vibrant new home for creativity, performance and community.
Image: Peter Foster
The Launch of CHURCH: Geelong Arts Centre’s vision realised.
The recent opening of ‘Church’ marks a major milestone in the completion of the Geelong Arts Centre development. As the final piece of the Geelong Arts Centre precinct, this carefully reimagined heritage church demonstrates how thoughtful design can unlock extraordinary community value through creativity rather than excess. The ‘insertion’ lightly sits within the existing heritage fabric of a much loved community icon, and has now reenergised creative possibilities as Geelong's incubator and gathering place for community, performance and connection.
A deeply collaborative team helped bring this space to life guided by a simple philosophy: minimal insertion to support immersive performance. The approach celebrates the story of what was there while paving the way for what comes next.
LIMINAL's approach centred on achieving the greatest possible impact with minimal means -celebrating the building's historic fabric while creating a versatile, intimate performance space designed to evolve with the artists and audiences who will shape its future. An ambitious vision realised with resourceful efficiency, prioritised adaptability, local collaboration and inventive design to create a venue that works harder, welcomes more people and leaves a lasting legacy.
More than the precinct's final venue, Church is its creative heart. Positioned as an affordable home for live music, theatre, comedy and performance, it provides the missing link in the Geelong Arts Centre campus - a dedicated incubator where emerging artists can experiment, collaborate and grow. By transforming a cherished heritage landmark into an accessible, artist-led space, Church strengthens the region's creative ecosystem and ensures the precinct continues to inspire generations of makers, performers and audiences.
Now handed to the community, we're looking forward to seeing the stories unfold: the performances, the gatherings, the creative moments that will resonate and shape this place over time.
Welcome to CHURCH.
Our collaborators include:
Project Manager: AEN Advisory
Structure: Meinhardt
Build: Plan Group
Services: ARUP
Theatre Consultant: David Harvey
Heritage: Purcell
Acoustics: Hanson Associates
Quantity Surveyor: Zinc
Building Surveyor: Codus
Accessibility: Architecture and Access
A very warm thank you to the Geelong Arts Centre leadership team, the Geelong Arts Centre Board, Kevin Costa and the Costa family, the generous donors who made this project possible.
Musician Daisy Kilbourne on Stage at Church. Image: Tahlia Sinclair
Read more:
