LAKESIDE DISCOVERY CENTER
2017
This proposal reimagines the Puffing Billy visitor experience as a single, immersive architectural encounter, distilling the exhilaration of the journey into a sequence of spatial moments. The building captures the compressed intensity of passing through a tunnel, the vertiginous thrill of a bridge suspended above the ground, and the quiet sublimity of encountering the forest anew. These experiences are not simply evoked, but physically realised—formed as a sequence of chambers embedded within the ground and a floating structure suspended above, together shaped by the landscape itself.
Set at the edge of embankment, railway, and lake, the project is conceived as both building and infrastructure. A new platform anchors the arrival experience, seamlessly integrated into the architectural form.
Beneath, a series of buried chambers house the visitor centre, comprising museum and gallery spaces, an auditorium for talks and interpretation, education rooms, and a centrally positioned retail space that choreographs movement through the building. These spaces sit directly alongside the platform, immersing visitors in the atmosphere of the railway while enabling the stories of Puffing Billy to unfold in close proximity to the trains themselves.
Above, a lightweight volume is suspended within the treetops, accommodating a restaurant and flexible function centre. This elevated space operates as a counterpart to the grounded, infrastructural base—open, social, and oriented toward expansive views across the lake and surrounding forest.
Developed in close collaboration with Openwork, the landscape strategy establishes a figured clearing within the dense native vegetation, reintroducing endemic species as a sculptural, immersive roofscape. This living surface is calibrated to meet the requirements of the Bushfire Management Overlay while reinforcing a deep connection to Country.
The architectural language draws from the utilitarian logic of railway infrastructure. Industrial, off-the-shelf elements—precast concrete culverts and steel trusses—are deployed at a civic scale, their repetition and economy lending clarity and robustness to the project. These are softened and unified through a fine steel mesh veil, creating a shifting interplay of light, shadow, and atmosphere.
In collaboration with interpretive designer Paul Broadhurst, the project positions the stories of the railway and its volunteers at its core. These narratives are housed within the dramatic tunnel-like chambers adjacent to the platform, where the weight of the earth, the sound of steam, and the proximity of the trains converge to create a deeply atmospheric and memorable public experience.
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MUSEUM | VISITORS CENTER | RESTAURANT | EVENT CENTRE
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COMPETITON RUNNER UP
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WURUNDJERI WOI WURRUNG COUNTRY | EMERALD, VICTORIA
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LANDSCAPE | OPENWORK
INTERPRETIVE DESIGN | BROADCAST DESIGN
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STILLS - DOUG AND WOLF
DIAGRAMS - MARCH STUDIO