Shark Bay Interpretive Centre Denham WA
SHARK BAY interpretive centre
a world of heritage The interpretive centre provides the catalyst for the development of the tourism infrastructure required for a sustainable future based on tourism.
The township of Denham, situated in the World Heritage area of Shark Bay, 832kms north of Perth in Western Australia has opened the doors to the Shark Bay Interpretive Centre designed by Woodhead in collaboration with Freeman Ryan Design, who developed and designed the exhibitions for the centre. Shark Bay is a remarkable place, unique in its natural beauty and diversity, and a place of extraordinary human history of local, national and international significance. Despite this, it is currently best known for the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia. The interpretive centre sets out to change this, and provide the catalyst for the development of the tourism infrastructure required for a sustainable future based on tourism. With the completion of the interpretive centre and temporary exhibition gallery, the small fishing community of Denham has redefined itself as the tourist centre for the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, with a building design which explores the physical, historical and social context to develop a new identity for the town.
Whilst immersed in the contextual issues early in the project, photographs taken in the 1950’s of Knight Terrace came to light, these seemed to capture the spirit of the place. The images feature a large wooden lighter called the Will Succeed drawn up on the beach at the edge of Knight Terrace and a number of crude timber buildings with shutters closed against the ever-present wind. These buildings conform to the popular image of the archetypal Aussie shed, which is, in reality, a nonsense. They are typical of their time and can be found throughout the world wherever it was touched by European colonisers and traders in the 19th century. It is their lack of distinction, and the dishevelled state of these crudely constructed timber boxes wrapped with enclosed verandas, which is most revealing. It speaks to the absence of long term commitment or vision, and complacency arising out of a daily intimacy with an extraordinary unspoiled environment. This, it could be argued, renders the concept of town redundant.
As is evidenced in the photograph, Denham was still at that time a small shanty town clinging to the coast , a loose collection of simple buildings hauled up on the beach. Its inhabitants were isolated, insular, fiercely independent, yet completely dependent on the outside world for the essentials of life. While Denham today has a certain urban veneer, and may appear different, it is still essentially the same place. Both the architectural intent of the Interpretive Centre, and its design expression, is informed by this view of Denham. The result is an enduring architecture, which acknowledges and celebrates the elemental forces of wind wave and salt and speaks to continuity in the context of a largely transient population and culture of expediency. A building that is at once an alien presence in the townscape and yet so deeply embedded it provides the necessary impetus for the redefinition of the town. The building is a collection of simple concrete boxes wrapped in a veneer of polished concrete, titanium zinc , copper and glass set on a podium some 800mm above street level .
architectural expression The building is a collection of simple concrete boxes wrapped in a veneer of polished concrete , titanium zinc , copper and glass set on a podium some 800mm above street level. The concrete boxes speak to expediency with the front most box tilted and twisted to register the force and direction of the prevailing wind. The thick polished concrete wall at the front of the building speaks to the enduring monumental impulse of architecture while the titanium zinc cladding copper fascia and pewter building sign register and celebrate the inevitability of change. The podium it is hoped will ensure that the now overdue tidal surge event will not reach the interior of the building as it pushes up around the box at the front of the building .
The concrete boxes speak to expediency, with the front most box tilted and twisted to register the force and direction of the prevailing wind. The thick polished concrete wall at the front of the building speaks to the enduring monumental impulse of architecture, while the titanium zinc cladding, copper fascia and pewter building sign register and celebrate the inevitability of change. The podium it is hoped will ensure that the now overdue tidal surge event will not reach the interior of the building as it pushes up around the box at the front of the building. The building stands defiant of the harsh conditions, yet tentative in it’s location, as if awaiting the squall just above the high tide line. The design of the exhibitions within the building is similarly informed by the place itself. The first space, “Living Place� investigates the notion of World Heritage and the values Shark Bay presents. A 7000 x 7000mm map of Shark Bay is cast into the concrete floor, where the complex patterns of both the prevailing SW wind and the opposing
architectural intent
An enduring architecture which acknowledges and celebrates the elemental forces of wind wave and salt and speaks to continuity in the context of a largely transient population and culture of expediency. A building which is at once an alien presence in the townscape and yet so deeply embedded it provides the necessary impetus for the redefinition of the town.
Leeuwin Current that brings warm water down the coast are both sandblasted in the floor. Glorious large format photographs of land, sea and natural beauty line the walls: the visitor is immersed in the place. To enhance this, a 60 track soundscape recorded in over 30 sites around Shark Bay bring the wind, bird-calls, animals, blowholes, tides and many other sounds, both audible and barely audible, into the visitor experience. “Mapping Place� follows this space, in which the charting and mapping of Shark Bay over time is investigated through interactive multimedia. Starting with the early Dutch charts of the 17th century (showing the west coast of Australia as the navigational point the sailors were dependent upon on their journeys to Batavia and the Spice Islands) can be scrutinised in minute detail, through the land holding and pearling leases, right through to the contemporary satellite images and dugong tagging charts used today.
In the main exhibition area that follows, “Experiencing Place�, the designers developed a spatial mapping approach, in which the planning and development of form were directed by the site map of Shark Bay. This is in contrast to the traditional (and current) practice in museums of thematic organization and planning of material. This allows Shark Bay itself, and the discovery of place, to shape the visitor experience. As visitors move through the exhibition, they are in fact visiting various locations, some particularly remote, around Shark Bay. Many local materials, like the Tamala limestone, the rich red Peron sandstone, the curious white coquina shell block and sandalwood, once cut on the Peron Peninsular, are used in the construction of the exhibition. It features state-of-the-art displays, including sound-scapes, historic and contemporary film footage, interviews with over 30 locals and specialists, and objects of rare scientific and historic significance. They take the visitor on a most amazing journey around Shark Bay across time, in company and conversation with those who have been part of this extraordinary place.
The Realisation of architecture is of necessity a collaboration endeavour.
The collaboration of Woodhead International, the architects for the Shark Bay Interpretive Centre and Freeman Ryan Design, the exhibition designers was the key to the success of this project. Having established the architecture premise the Woodhead International design team worked closely with FRD to tune the architecture to dovetail with the interpretive design concept. The architecture responded with the adjustment of the proportions and relationships of the exhibition spaces and the adoption of elements of the of the exhibition design pallet of materials and colours. The exhibition design responded to the robustness of the architecture with a complementary refinement. The result of this collaboration is the seamless integration of architecture and exhibition design which has been widely acknowledged as setting a new standard for this type of facility in Western Australia
Architects: Project Team: Exhibition Design: Project Team: Curator: Multi-media: Photography:
Woodhead John Nichols John Paul Davies Freeman Ryan Design Susan Freeman Denise Parrague Katy Hamshere Dr Peter Emmett Gary Warner John Gollings
For further information contact; perth@woodhead.com.au