Cradle Mountain Park Centre
Project date: March 2012 - Category: Education , TourismJAWSARCHITECTS and Inspiring Place have developed a Master Plan for the Cradle Mountain Gateway zone, located on the disused, government owned airstrip airstrip just outside the northern entrance to the iconic Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park.
A major site rehabilitation project, the zone comprises a new Park Centre, Café, Parks Administration, public amenities and a substantial car park which caters for visitors to the Gateway Zone and those transferring to shuttle buses into the National Park.
The new buildings are grouped around the end of the airstrip, set back from the edge of the forest to provide protection from the threat of bushfires.
Buildings contain embedded interpretation messages through form and detail, drawing on references to the local underlying alpine geomorphology and responding to the extreme weather conditions the area experiences.
Extending from an excavated rock face, a defensive perimeter wall reminiscent of a glacial-eroded head wall faces south. Extending this metaphor, the buildings wrap around and open onto a protected landscaped courtyard, a notional cirque which is contained at the northern end by an enclosing earth moraine.
The centre is conceived as an expansive veranda to provide shelter to pedestrian ways, the encompassing roof folding to the ground to keep a low profile with openings carefully placed to allow framed and filtered views to Cradle Mountain.
New buildings are single storey, the multi-faceted elevations clad in a skin of rough sawn Tasmanian Oak to create a strong material expression, the weathered natural materials all helping to reduce the visual prominence of the building in this pristine environment.
A major site rehabilitation project, the zone comprises a new Park Centre, Café, Parks Administration, public amenities and a substantial car park which caters for visitors to the Gateway Zone and those transferring to shuttle buses into the National Park.
The new buildings are grouped around the end of the airstrip, set back from the edge of the forest to provide protection from the threat of bushfires.
Buildings contain embedded interpretation messages through form and detail, drawing on references to the local underlying alpine geomorphology and responding to the extreme weather conditions the area experiences.
Extending from an excavated rock face, a defensive perimeter wall reminiscent of a glacial-eroded head wall faces south. Extending this metaphor, the buildings wrap around and open onto a protected landscaped courtyard, a notional cirque which is contained at the northern end by an enclosing earth moraine.
The centre is conceived as an expansive veranda to provide shelter to pedestrian ways, the encompassing roof folding to the ground to keep a low profile with openings carefully placed to allow framed and filtered views to Cradle Mountain.
New buildings are single storey, the multi-faceted elevations clad in a skin of rough sawn Tasmanian Oak to create a strong material expression, the weathered natural materials all helping to reduce the visual prominence of the building in this pristine environment.
STATUS:
Planning Approval Received 2012
