Drift Café is located within the recently completed Devonport Surf Life Saving Club Redevelopment on Tasmania’s North West coast. Our client’s vision was to create an enticing space which offers a casual and fun dining experience to showcase seasonal local produce.

A stripped back aesthetic of polished concrete floors, exposed ducts, radiant ceiling heaters and bay lights is tempered by a playful layering of plywood, rusted steel screens, timber seating and fabric panels. The fusion of these warmer, textured elements creates a welcoming environment for relaxed, informal dining.

The cranked plan segregates different operations, orchestrating a movement sequence from the entry, past the bar to the restaurant space. Materials and furnishings take on a darker, more refined feel to help define the transition between zones.

Geometries and materials used in the base building are reinterpreted in the fit out, with rounded plywood panels that ‘drift’ over each other lining the walls and ceiling to help create a weathered character to the spaces and an allusion to surf culture.

Vertical openings in the aluminum skin of the building shell allow shafts of sunlight to animate the dining spaces, with subtle colour used as a backdrop to highlight fabulous views of the beach and headland beyond.

A glazed frontage connects internal spaces with a covered external terrace and semi-enclosed courtyard, contained by the adjacent Surf Club building to create a protective sun-trap for bathers. The external servery caters for barefoot customers, offering a selection of gourmet burgers, drinks and ice-creams; the boldly coloured interior acting as a beacon for eager diners.

STATUS:

Completion 2011

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Brett Boardman

Encompassing a number of outlying suburbs on the eastern shore of Hobart, the Clarence Plains district is spatially contained by a ring of rolling hills. The new Child and Family Centre will provide the community with a range of integrated services that support families with the health, care and education needs of children from birth to five years.

The centre’s welcoming plan of two opposing arcs embraces and connects with the local primary school, residential precincts and other community facilities to reinforce the notion of a community hub. The facility straddles an existing council walkway to incorporate an existing building, refurbished to become the new Neighbourhood Centre.

The design re-works local materials and forms, providing a building with a familiar and recognisable language to the residents, somewhat akin to the home environment. The roof form creates a memorable expression which resonates with the surrounding topography.

The layout of the centre juxtaposes an open plan model with designated spaces, a communal ‘lounge’ separating child-oriented areas from education, counseling and administrative spaces.

The interior explores the concept of the ‘Big House’, configured as a continuous, flexible space of experiences which encourage children’s learning through imaginative play. This concept extends to the exterior play spaces, a dynamic relationship with the landscape forming an integral component of the facility.

A timber portal frame marches through the centre, supporting clerestory windows to provide light from above and a connection with the sky, shown to enhance child development and well being. A neutral colour and material palette forms a latent canvas for the children to embellish.

ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION:

PTA Architecture

STATUS:

Construction 2011

The new Surf Life Saving Club will be the first project to be delivered by Devonport City Council from the Urban Design Framework for the Mersey Bluff, a prominent natural feature forming part of the foreshore reserve.

The design of the new building provides an abstract vehicle for experiencing the unique qualities of the dynamic coastal environment, establishing a strong connection with its setting whilst creating a bold image to assist with marketing and promotional activities.

Seen from all angles, the building is treated as a sculptural element carefully placed in the manicured coastal environment, the dynamic plan form drawing on the cusp of the beach and protective Bluff headland.

To facilitate separate identities, the development is composed of two distinct pavilions sharing a common foyer space; one to house the surf club, the other incorporating high quality restaurant and cafe facilities to serve the local beach users.

An aluminium skin wraps over each pavilion, the roof forms rising and falling to modulate the internal spaces and evoke notions of waves in motion.

The new building delivers a level of sophistication to meet evolving public expectations and provide security for the future of the surf club, a valued community asset.

STATUS:

Completion 2011

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Brett Boardman

Originally a dairy farm, Fahan School is set among magnificent grounds and gardens in suburban Hobart.

Established in 1935, the school has since become an oasis hemmed in by encroaching houses.

The undeveloped western side of the school provided an opportunity for expansion and to create a focus to this edge, defined by Wayne Rivulet.

The Gymnasium and Performing Arts Centre were conceived as one project to maximize potential for linking spaces to add value for the school.

A strategy was developed to integrate the buildings with the terrain and establish a dynamic precinct, defined by movement within, under and between the structures.

The pre-cast concrete structure is integral, the materiality of both buildings drawing from the existing ground condition through the exposed dolerite aggregate.

Buildings are accessed by bridge and sunken into the hillside to aid their thermal performance, minimize the visual impact and contain noise.

The earth-covered roofs negotiate site levels, creating a unifying external space offering places of prospect, reflection and impromptu performance.

The circulation within is defined by ramps, stairs and corridors submerged into the ground, their external form configured as topography.

Natural light from above defines movement, bold colour creating inspiring spaces with a sense of delight.

STATUS:

Completion January 2010

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Jonathan Wherrett

The surf club has over time become an integral part of the culture of the coastal city of Burnie. Idyllically situated midway along the North facing foreshore, the club has provided uninterrupted service to the community since the early 1960s. The importance of this culture is reflected in Council's decision to make it the centerpiece of a redeveloped waterfront on this prominent site.

The building has suffered many unsympathetic alterations and additions, visually separating the city and waterfront. In addition to the environmental and economic benefits, the important elements of the original building were retained to preserve the history of local surf culture on this site.
Two restaurants, a function room, gymnasium and public change facilities have been fused to the existing building; a sense of fun embedded into the complex through the nautical motifs on the change rooms and expressive sweep of the roof.

Two glazed circulation zones differentiate the existing and new fabric, with new elements set back so that the original surf club remains evident. The signature roof and cantilevered deck provide an important visual connection with the city centre whilst allowing uninterrupted views to the waterfront.

All elevations have been carefully designed to be experienced from all sides. Services are contained behind permeable screens, the timber slats and exposed steel acknowledging Burnie's industrial heritage and links to the local timber industry.

The redeveloped Surf club aims to create a memorable place for community events and activities – a valued and inviting destination for both locals and visitors.

STATUS:

Completion 2006

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Bob Iddon

The Kingborough Civic Centre provides a new heart for the Kingborough municipality; a place for ceremony, a place for community and commerce. The building becomes an integral piece in the complex jigsaw of a beachside town growing to become the urban centre, satellite residential township and commercial focus of the region.

The new Civic Centre consolidates a fragmented urban edge and is seen by Council as the catalyst for change and growth. Set back from the street frontage the building forms a transitional position from hard edge commercial alignment to allow vistas to St. Clements church spire. A small urban park and robust noble materials provide a solid presence, reinforcing the importance of local government in the community.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Richard Eastwood

STATUS:

Completion January 2000

An exciting and rare brief for Tasmania has been the redevelopment of the Boardwalk at Wrest Point Casino for Federal Hotels. Situated on the foreshore of the River Derwent this innovative new bar and restaurant appeals to a demanding contemporary market.

STATUS:

Completion November 2002

The Tasmania University Union activities centre was forced to suspend music concerts due to noise disturbance to surrounding residents. Addressing this situation, the new venue uses the practical constraints of acoustic and ventilation requirements as a catalyst for the architectural expression.

The acoustic containment problems were solved by burying the building under a post-tensioned concrete roof, covered with grass and endemic gardens. Raw concrete, exposed industrial services and shafts of daylight through rusted steel skylights highlight the powerfully restrained colour scheme.

The result is a dimmable, theatrical cave; the back-drop to a variety of vibrant gatherings. Internal surfaces are generally not parallel to improve diffuse reflection of sounds, with sliding wall panels allowing a variety of simultaneous uses day and night, the space opening out to sun-drenched, tiered courtyards.
 
Cut into the rocky hillside, the building’s immense thermal storage capacity maintains a generally stable internal temperature and adequate day-lighting enables the large spaces to be utilized for much of the time with very little electrical energy use.

At peak capacity, the space needs a very large quantity of air movement. All inlet and exhaust ducts have extensive acoustic absorption and a labyrinth pathway. Glazed roof lights and doors to the sunny courtyards are covered at night with lead lined acoustic panels.

The new TUU Bar now provides a durable and vibrant venue for up to 1200 patrons for functions as widely diverse as student exhibitions and performances, rock concerts and dance parties with sound levels of 110dB(A) inaudible in the surrounding residential areas.

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Richard Eastwood

STATUS:

Completion December 2003

The original work to this corporate office focused on refurbishment of the public foyer space and boardroom. A sculptural wall was inserted into the tenancy, becoming a threshold between private, semi-private and public spaces. The form of the wall in the reception area is a series of planes which push out from the wall to create a dynamic interface with the public.

The wall modulates natural and artificial light in a variety of ways. Light sources are accentuated by utilizing screens to filter and bounce light into these changing planes. A ceiling pelmet acts as a light shelf and a double glazed translucent glass wall runs past the boardroom allowing connection to the workspace whilst maintaining visual and acoustic privacy.

The language of this redevelopment was used as a catalyst for another office refurbishment five years later.

Working within the confines of a single office, this component explores the prospect of the workspace as a consolidated joinery installation, a folding plane. The existing column provided a point of reference from which a continuous planar element wraps, turns and folds throughout the space. The folds provide for the necessary functional and storage requirements of a contemporary, corporate workspace, whilst subtly defining the public and private zones.

A sense of transparency, warmth and strength is imbued in the materials used which compliment the existing corporate colors.

STATUS:

Completion December 2005

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Ray Joyce

Designers JAWS2 worked collaboratively with Curator Julia Clark and Graphic Designer Lynda Warner to create an evocative interpretation experience that draws on the imagery of 'grinding rogues into free'.

In a darkened room, cases frame a single glowing object. This is the theme for each unit. On walking into the viewing space a background panoramic image reinforces the object theme and opens out to display an array of thematically linked artifacts.

This installation is all about new ways of learning how to interpret our past in our own manner.

Moorilla Estate, established in 1958, is Tasmania's oldest commercial winery and vineyard. Located 12km north of Hobart on a peninsula in the Derwent River, the estate has a significant physical and cultural context into which the new Moorilla Wine and Food Centre has been inserted.

The building occupies the apex of the site in both topographical and hierarchical terms to capitalise on sun and views of the river and the wider landscape and to provide a strong public face to the estate. It is also sited immediately adjacent to the outdoor wine making facility so that patrons have a direct interface with the winery at work.

The two storey building consists of an entry, reception, lobby and function rooms on the lower level and restaurant and wine tasting bar on the upper level. The 't' shaped plan was generated by acknowledging two perpendicular axis. One runs the length of the peninsula [entry axis] the other relates to the head of the peninsula where the dominant contour addresses the river [view axis].

The dominant element of the architectural expression is the roof plane which unites the parts, provides a gesture to entry and works as a contemporary verandah - providing shade to the extensive glazing and defining the outdoor dining decks.

The palette is concrete, steel, aluminium, timber and glass – all expressed honestly inside and out.

The Concert Stage at the Northern end of the green and the Micro Brewery at the southern end of the restaurant, complete the composition by using the ‘view axis’ as an ordering device.

ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION:

Craig Rosevear Architects + Jacob Allom Wade

STATUS:

Completion November 2005

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Brett Boardman