Y una paradoja

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Name of hotel/resort Bay of Fires Lodge and walkers’ camp

Scale Accommodation capacity for 20

people Date of development 2000

Location Ansons Bay, Tasmania, Australia

The area context A wilderness area in the northeast of Tasmania, with a coastal lodge surrounded by a National Park

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the building. Rather than scattering individual cabins across the site, all the facilities were centralized into one complex, consisting of two parallel linear pavilions of timber and glass to create an extraordinarily

simple space, involving an 18m-long core and offset extensions at either end to provide, respectively, an entrance and a deck. This design and positioning also takes advantage of cross ventilation and penetration of the winter sun.

The building is not orientated parallel to the beach but is rather sited end-on to the sea, below the summit of a small but prominent knoll. This positioning provides shelter from coastal winds and limits the visual impact on the surroundings. At one end, the gables and deck project out of the trees above the small beach, splaying out to reveal a view across the bay. The slope of the two steeply pitched, single-surface roofs (skillion roofs, known in Australia as shed roofs) has been designed to maximize exposure to the winter sun and mirrors unique, environmentally sustainable way of experiencing

the dramatic landscape of Mount William National Park.

A design that combines simplicity with creativity

The Bay of Fires Lodge is located on a small knoll overlooking the Bay of Fires with its beaches of pale sand flanked by granite boulders and steep slopes of dry sclerophyll scrub, rich with Aboriginal middens. The beaches are backed by densely vegetated dunes. Access is primarily on foot, with guests walking in as part of the programme. Vehicle access is available where necessary for some groups and services, but the private vehicle track stops about 200m away from the property.

The building was built into the site with great care, to create minimal disturbance while maximizing the visual connection with the surrounding vegetation and the ocean beyond. Siting took full advantage of the natural clearing; only three trees were removed to construct

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Bay of Fires

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Part III:

Case Studies

the form of the trees, which have been shaped by the prevailing wind.

Light materials and low-impact technology using natural processes

The design of the building is based on minimal

components, simple and lightweight, which enabled all materials to be delivered by air or walked in, causing minimal disturbance to vegetation. Construction materials were brought by truck to a point 6km away, where they were divided into 500kg loads for delivery by helicopter. The rooms and facilities are striking but simple. There is no mains power, mains water or sewage connection, so all basic services were provided on site. Light and power are provided by north-facing solar collectors, projecting from the roof. Extensive use has been made of glass louvres to allow for sunlight penetration and cross ventilation, shielded from direct summer sun by roof eaves. There is a wood combustion stove in the living area.

Rainwater is collected from the roofs into five 22,000- litre storage tanks, complemented by water-saving measures including water flow restrictors, with guests’ hand-pumping water for showers and basins to a header tank. All sewage and organic kitchen waste is treated on site using a dry composting system. Wastewater is removed from the system, passed through a digester, and filtered before direction to a transpiration trench where it evaporates; kitchen wastewater is taken through a three-stage grease trap before it joins the digester. All service equipment and rainwater collection tanks have been grouped together on one side of the building.

The camp – designed to suit the site and the requirements of the National Park

As no permanent accommodation structure was permitted in this location within the National Park, the standing camp was developed as a demountable structure. The development conformed to TPWS policy

to locate standing camps at least 3km from road heads in National Parks. The chosen site was located within a closed swale, with surrounding dunes stabilized by continuous plantings of boobyalla, and a short covering of bracken fern on the floor of the swale. The camp is not visible from the beach or surrounding area. Waste management procedures were carefully planned, including use of a composting toilet, blackwater and greywater treatment, and removal of solid waste from the site.

The proposal for development of the camp was supported by a TPWS Environmental Impact Assessment. Additional conditions were attached to the planning approval. For example, to facilitate pedestrian access over the dune systems while limiting the effect of trampling and erosion, sand ladders were provided. To prevent the spread of phytopthera, facilities were required at the beginning of the walk for washing footwear.

In 2006, in order to avoid unchecked gradual development of remote areas within reserved land, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service introduced a Standing Camp Policy that has formalized guidelines for the approval and operation of standing camps on land managed by the TPWS.

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