South East Centre for Contemporary Art

The South East Centre for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Bega is situated on Yuin Country in the far south eastern region of NSW. This major refurbishment and extension of the former Bega Valley Regional Gallery stimulates an already thriving creative community, bringing focus to the region as an arts and cultural destination. Its vision is to establish stronger connections through and arts and culture between its local community, the wider nation and abroad.

Co-located with the Bega library, council offices, civic centre and forecourt; SECCA stimulates the heart of the town as a cultural hub and a place for community activity. Its expansion into the former council chambers and at the rear of the building coalesces more than 500 sqm of exhibition, archive and community projects spaces. The provision of three diverse exhibition spaces and associated amenities allows anything from larger touring shows such as the Archibald, to much loved community arts and crafts societies to present their work.
Over the main gallery, a new roof structure punctuated by south facing skylights dramatically increases its internal volume whilst bringing in gentle natural light, with less reliance on artificial lighting. This with the addition of a purpose-built archive facility and climate control systems, brings SECCA up to a standard that permits the hosting of international touring exhibitions.

The former council chambers and meeting rooms have been adapted into additional exhibition and community project spaces. Floors are stripped back to reveal concrete slabs and new glazed openings punctuate the existing blockwork wall. A new reception and foyer seamlessly connects with the council admin customer service desks, where a new shared entry framed by a steel canopy in an iconic sunrise gradient marks the civic centre’s front door.

Working in consultation with local arts and cultural groups, the brief to open up the existing institution in order to foster stronger connections with the wider community was a key driver to the design approach.
A new facade and spatial additions mediate the cultural happenings within the gallery and the public life of Bega: large, sheltered window vitrines perforate the textured aluminium façade screen, inhabitable from the exterior of the building, these offer a showcase for the exhibitions to extend beyond the gallery interior to the surrounding civic forecourt.

The window vitrines point towards the significant surrounding landscape: visitors may take a moment from the exhibition to reflect on Biamanga (Mumbulla mountain) a sacred indigenous landmark towards the horizon, or the public life happening in the forecourt or gardens across the road.
In addition to the gallery is the redevelopment of the adjacent forecourt. This key civic space is enhanced with additional soft landscaping and urban furniture. Designed in parallel with the adjacent gallery, the landscape and building are conceived together to provide additional amenity to the forecourt, providing sheltered spaces for community to dwell. The existing forecourt lawns are supplemented with endemic planting and trees, these are also planted within the new planters around the edge of the building and forecourt, providing natural relief to the urban environment.