Bundanon — Kerstin Thompson Architects
Overlooking the Shoalhaven River on the NSW South Coast, Kerstin Thompson Architects hero the landscape for the new Bundanon Art Museum.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson I Photography: Rory Gardiner
Buildings on the Riversdale site include the 1866-built Bundanon Homestead, an 1870s-built Singleman’s Hut and a number of cottages and other buildings – all in a traditional rural Australian vernacula. Photo: Rory Gardiner
The Art Museum and Bridge are situated higher on the hill and in close proximity to the already significant arts and culture ‘campus’. Photo: Rory Gardiner
Located on 1,000 hectares of bush and parkland, Bundanon was gifted by Australian artist Arthur Boyd and his wife, Yvonne, in 1993. Meaning deep valley in Dharawal, Bundanon is on Wodi Wodi and Yuin Country, and pays close attention to its First Nation culture and connection by protecting the landscape.
Bringing architectural feats to the majestic location on the NSW south coast, Bundanon was established by the Boyd family to foster an appreciation for and understanding of landscape and art. As such, architecture by Kerstin Thompson Architects, landscaping from Wraight Associates with Craig Burton, services engineering by Steensen Varming and sustainable design engineering by Atelier 10 provides a backdrop to creative arts and education.
‘All four developed the design together, generating a concept that integrates architecture and landscape within a broader continuum of sustainable environmental systems, ecology and site infrastructure,’ says Bundanon.
Drawing inspiration from rural Australia’s trestle flood bridges, Bundanon acts as a defensible fortress against fire and flood. ‘Recalling the trestle bridges endemic to flood landscapes such as this, the dramatic bridging structure straddles The Gully from ridge to ridge allows sporadic waters and the overland flow to flow beneath it and for the reinstatement of the wet gully ecology,’ says Kerstin Thompson Architects.
A 165-metre-long by a 9-metre-wide structure, The Bridge contains 34 rooms, break-out and dining spaces and the public café, Ramox, clad in dark-hued metal, almost balancing on the landscape. The Bridge meets the subterranean Art Museum in a welding of light concrete submerged into the hill, contrasting the black connection.
‘The major new building, the Bridge, which includes education and accommodation areas, is treated like a piece of flood infrastructure. The architecture supports rather than impedes the natural system of water flow across the site,’ says Kerstin Thompson Architects. Photo: Rory Gardiner
Other than a ceiling fan, in the spirit of en plein air the rooms incorporate passive, manually operated systems for environmental control enabling visitors to tune the room to their needs: adjustable timber louvres, a sliding perforated metal screen over the windows and louvres to manage air flow and sunlight. Photo: Rory Gardiner
The Bridge highlights the wondrous experiences and views of landscape. Photo: Courtesy of Bundanon
“Sensitively embracing the existing landscape and its ecology, the design responds to current and future climatic conditions with inspiration drawn from rural Australia’s trestle flood bridges.”
The Art Museum and Bridge are situated higher on the hill and in close proximity to the already significant arts and culture ‘campus’. Photo: Rory Gardiner
The Bridge contains 34 rooms, break-out and dining spaces and the public café, Ramox. Photo: Rory Gardiner
An architectural counterpoint to the Bridge, the new Art Museum is subterranean, buried within the reinstated hill. Photo: Rory Gardiner
The Bridge contains 34 rooms, break-out and dining spaces and the public café, Ramox. Photo: Rory Gardiner
Central to Bundanon is revealed in a sense of remoteness and avoiding overdevelopment, with a net zero energy target goal. ‘Powered by solar panels, it incorporates exemplary sustainability features including passive temperature management, black water treatment, harvesting and storing of rainwater, local materials throughout and a reduced reliance on fossil fuel sources,’ says Kerstin Thompson Architects.
The material palette furthers the sustainability factor with bushfire-resistant windows; Radcon timber cladding; robust metal cladding; locally sourced Armourply hardwood and stones—all to a backdrop of local and native, drought and bushfire-tolerant plant species selections.
Within the rooms of The Bridge, Kerstin Thompson Architects continued the connection to the artworks housed in the gallery with locally sourced blackbutt panelling painted from the palettes used in Arthur Boyd’s paintings. ‘The blue used on the walls and ceiling in the majority of the rooms captures a sense of his night skies,’ says the architects. ‘This emphasis on shade and a darker palette amplify the colours of the landscape framed by the windows.’
Repeatedly throughout the Bundanon experience, the architecture, landscaping, and engineering seek to protect and highlight the landscape; both in Boyd’s hopes to ‘heighten one’s appreciation for the sights, sounds, textures’ and, also an ecological one for the future of the environment.
