Kingpin Melbourne
CASE STUDY:Kingpin / TEEG
clientMelbourne, Australia
locationArtist Curation + Creative Direction + Production
SCOPE7 Artists - 3,000 sqm Venue - 6 Weeks On Site
scope01 overviewA $13M Flagship That Reads Like an Underground Gallery
Kingpin's Melbourne flagship is a $13 million entertainment venue for TEEG, one of the largest entertainment and leisure groups in the Asia-Pacific. It fills a 3,000-square-metre basement, built by the Construction Zone team with architects, designers, engineers and fabricators.
Kingpin didn't want a branded fit-out with murals added at the end. It wanted the venue to feel like an art experience in its own right, reflecting Melbourne's street culture. We curated the artist program and managed its production inside the live build.
03 the collaborationSeven Artists. Six Weeks. One Live Build.
The program brought together Adnate, Sofles, Rosie Woods, Spanish artist Jay Kaes and Los Angeles-based Lauren YS, with further artists working through corridors and transitions.
Sofles painted a two-storey centrepiece. Rosie Woods applied her gold 3D rendering to Kingpin's iconography. Jay Kaes built an anamorphic illusion that resolves from a single point in the room, and Lauren YS layered arcade culture and the Wild West into a narrative wall. Adnate painted five portraits inside and out, including a Dame Edna tribute on Dame Edna Lane that faces the street.
02 the challengeThe art had to be made during construction, alongside every other trade, on a tight program and budget. It also had to hold together as one venue rather than a collection of separate murals, while giving each artist room to work in their own voice.
What the Project required Curate an international, multi-artist program with real standing in street culture.
Plan art locations, surfaces, lighting and circulation alongside the venue design.
Brief artists on Kingpin's themes (energy, movement, play and tension) rather than set outcomes.
Manage seven artists on overlapping schedules over six weeks.
Work around build sequencing, access, safety and compliance in a live construction site.
Deliver to the client's budget and program without holding up other trades.
7
3,000
6
$13M
square metres of venueartistsweeks on siteflagship build
04 outcomesAn entertainment venue that works as a gallery
→ Turned a 3,000 sqm basement into one continuous underground gallery across seven artists.
→ Delivered a two-storey Sofles centrepiece that anchors the venue.
→ Added a street-facing Adnate tribute to Dame Edna on Dame Edna Lane, drawing people to the laneway at any hour.
→ Combined street art, illustration, graffiti and optical illusion inside a commercial venue without losing its edge.
→ Built the art into the venue from the start instead of adding it at the end.
Art Built Into the Venue, Not Added After
This project shows how we work inside large commercial builds: curating the artists, setting the creative direction and managing production so the art is part of the venue from day one.
Read the behind-the-scenes story, see our public art production and delivery work, or discuss a venue or development with us.
