The Site: Birra Birra, a rocky reef in Sydney Harbour now known as Sow and Pigs was once a special meeting place for Birrabirragal people. They carried out the ceremony called Butoowee where the garrigarrang/sea creatures took their children and taught them the laws of the sea. The theatre aims to connect Watsons Bay to this sacred place in a way that protects and nurtures the existing reef and pays homage to this dreaming story.
The structure reaches from west to north-east. Like the eel, a significant totem for the Birrabirragal people, the theatre sits at the north-east end and opens up like an eels mouth towards South Head. It is told that the eel saved its people from a rough storm and has a warning that the laws of the land must be obeyed forever.
ELEVATION
1/350 The western, rock-clad building is both library and research centre which connects to the eastern theatre building via floating ramps and pontoon. This allows the reef to remain mostly untouched in order to preserve existing sea-life. The large surface area of the rock encourages sea-life to live and feed in the area.
The theatre, made up of drift wood and recycled timber, faces north-east to the opening of the harbour at South Head. A floating pontoon is the central platform of the theatre and moves up and down with the tide. It performs the dual function of a theatre for lectures as well as a pontoon for boats or swimming. 1/350
SCENE 1
Creatures of the Sea Theatre hopes to be gentle on the reef but also regenerative in its approach. Placed on the outer boundaries of the reef that had been destroyed by explosives in the 20th Century, it will hopefully manifest a healthy and flourishing ecosystem over time.
LOWER GROUND PLAN
The basketball and natural swimming complex on Gadigal country in Wilson St is situated amongst the Clothing Store and railway lines of Eveleigh. The brief allowed for experimentation with form and materiality, eventuating in a glulam - arch structure with CLT interiors.
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SECTIONS
VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION
The basketball complex is buried undeground and alongisde a natural swimming pool, this provides a lot of shading for play and a cooling affect to the players. There is a changing room and bathroom area to the south-east made up of timber and canvas material.
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ELEVATIONS
VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION
VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION
The arched roofs of the complex are inspired by the Carriageworks train construction workshops that are historic to the site, including the Clothing Store buidling. As the complex is embedded into the site, the visual impact is low and quiet.
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SCENE II
A large arched space opens up, also in the same way that the basketball is thrown into a hoop - a curved path to a point. Between the two courts is a café and foyer, defined by an inverted vaulted ceiling. The blackbutt battens are a sustainable choice and add warmth to the glulam structure.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
The Site: The Gadigal and Wangal people inhabited these lands and the brief required a site for 270 Indigenous students. The site is situated alongside Parramatta Rd at the Ross St entrance of Sydney University. Priorities for the brief were connection to country and culturally appropriate design for students. Here, the ground floor features rocks that provide seating and visual protection from the road and seating areas nestled into the native habitat and soil.
TYPICAL PLAN
VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION
A long-spanning grid allowed large, open height spaces. The dorms open up to the east and west and interact via a mezzanine floor. The glulam and CLT structure gives a warm tone to the whole space which orients to the existing long garden also attached to the site.
VECTORWORKS EDUCATIONAL VERSION
SECTION
The 12-storey building is generous with living space and private quarters. Each room has a private threshold space that allows for decompression and privacy before entering the personal area. Despite housing 270 people it allows for generous break-out spaces with open-air flow and operable polycarbonate sliding doors. 1/400
MODEL IMAGE II
The stairs on the east and west side break from the grid and provide another layer of anti-institutional design. Institutional quarters typically have cramped double-sided corridors and closed circulation, this plan allowed for playful, open-circulation with exterior stairs.
SKETCHES
These are an example of planning sketches prior to creating the Creatures of the Sea Theatre. They were based on the anatomy of the eel and eventuated into the theatre being placed at the point of the reef with the least amount of seagrass. The thought behind this was that the footings and porous surface area of the timber would allow for continuous growth of sea-life.
SKETCHES
This was another planning sketch of the site at BirraBirra reef. It was drawn from the position of South Head looking out to North Head. I was trying to ascertain the scale of the two buidings and the way the theatre would interact with the carline at North Head opposite.
SKETCHES
These sketches are further to the end of my design planning. They show the process of figuring out structure and form as well as the impact of tides from Sydney Harbour.
