Contributor
Cumulus Studio

2014
Pumphouse Point - Lake St. Claire - Australia

Located just inside the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Pumphouse Point was originally constructed as part of Tasmania’s hydro electric scheme and has been unused for over twenty years before being redeveloped. The redevelopment involved the adaptive reuse and refurbishment of an existing, heritage listed, off-form concrete art deco buildings - ‘The Pumphouse’ - into a wilderness retreat. The Pumphouse, a three storey building originally constructed in the 1940s to house pump turbines, sits on Lake St Clair at the end of a 250m concrete flume which is its only connection to land.
The approach to The Pumphouse building, surrounded by mountains and water, heightens the anticipation and sense of arrival. Guests pass through solid metal doors into the entry foyer - an intermediate zone through which guests are brought gently into the comfort of the suites from the rawness of the wilderness outside.
The twelve studio-sized suites run lengthways down the two outer wings, leaving the central core devoted to communal lounge areas on each level, open at both ends so that the sight-line that begins from the flume continues through the building.
The project has been achieved on an extremely tight budget in a remote location which required a large amount of site servicing and infrastructure.
Simple construction techniques were utilised and opportunities for standardisation and prefabrication sought through joinery and fittings. Working within existing enclosures that were originally designed for very different functions, a large amount of effort was spent manipulating the internal spaces to balance private and common spaces.

[project selected by Marco Ghezzi]

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Category

Contributor

Architecture as Resource / Imprint