Winner of the Gulbenkian Prize 2005, this 317m2 facility houses the senior operational and management staff at Big Pit and provides a visitor centre.
The appointment was obtained through a limited architectural competition and required a sustainable environmentally friendly building which would sit harmoniously within its natural heritage site.
Overall the design ethos seeks to combine contemporary design aesthetics with suitable passive and active technologies throughout the external fabric and internal environment to maximise comfort conditions for its users.
Underfloor heating has been employed in order to maintain sensitive internal temperature environments and to free available wall space from traditional heating means. Window actuators were also designed into the curtain walling and clerestorey system to achieve preferred passive stack ventilation through the key larger spaces in the building.
The contemporary aesthetic draws much from the natural site conditions and orientation, making sensitive reference to the surrounding built form and the legacy of the industrial past.