BIOPHILIA 089
practices. And the best of the new biophilic designs are addressing one or all of three things, the most obvious of which is to draw us away from urban centres and out into nature, into the wilderness, and frame the experience in such a way that we might appreciate and respect its glories anew. Another strand is to stay in the midst of urban density, and create havens for wildlife, bringing new opportunities for connection with and understanding of what is growing on our doorsteps. Te third – and arguably most impactful – is to create schemes that repurpose neglected or blighted sites in
Another strand is to stay in the midst of urban density, and create havens for wildlife, bringing new opportunities for connection
ways that enrich the terrain, the flora and fauna.
As evidence of this mood shift we need look no further than the National Trust, which, while doing what it has always done – maintaining the UK’s natural and built heritage sites of significance – has recently expanded its attention and funding to the greening of impoverished urban spaces. Castlefield Viaduct in Manchester (see case study) is one of the first outcomes of its new Urban Place policy, bringing more green space to urban places and communities.
CASE STUDY BUNDANON ART MUSEUM AND BRIDGE
Bundanon is a 1,100 hectare site in New South Wales, gifted to the Australian people by artist Arthur Boyd – in whose paintings this remote landscape frequently featured – and his wife Yvonne in 1993. Set high above the Shoalhaven river and fringed with forests, its facilities are now substantially enhanced with a low-impact and high quality partially embedded Art Museum and Bridge. The design evolved through close collaboration between Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA), Atelier Ten, landscape architects Wraight Associates and structural engineering firm WSP, with the emphasis on sustainability and resilience within a site frequently affected by floods and fires. As practice founder and director Kerstin Thompson says: ‘It places the site’s ecology at the centre of the design.’ Placed in the ‘sweet spot’ of the masterplan least at risk from flooding or fires, the move to partially submerge the museum goes one better: it creates a safe storage space for the outstanding Boyd Collection, helps with cooling and stabilising temperatures and creates a dramatic atmosphere in the gallery, with slices of daylight arriving from above or through the one glazed elevation. But it also provided inspiration for the bridge. Says Paul Stoller, managing director of Atellier Ten, Australia: ‘The exciting thing was we realised if you have the
museum building in the ground then conceptually, physically and metaphorically, it’s the anchor for the extraordinary cantilever out of the bridge. We just carry that line on to bridge the existing gulley.’ The bridge is 160m long and 9m wide, and its structure imitates Australia’s rural trestle flood bridges. The beautifully detailed wooden cabins arranged along it provide a balance of radiant heating and hand-operated window louvres to control air flow. The new facilities are arranged adjacent to the historic Boyd buildings – a 19th century homestead complex plus the Boyd Education Centre, designed by Glenn Murcutt, Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark, which opened in 1999 – and unites the suite of buildings around a shared forecourt and arrival hall.
The site now benefits from solar power, rain water harvesting, black water treatment, as well as ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling. Add to this the new buildings’ passive temperature control and use of local materials, it brings the project close to the desired net-zero carbon ambition. This goal was for pragmatic reasons, as much as anything. Says Stoller: ‘They are literally at the end of the power line, which crosses the river, comes down through the forest and down the road. They lose power all the time – every time a tree falls within a couple of dozen kilometres they lose power, and then they have
to shut down because they might miss word of a bush fire or flood. So for basic safety reasons they’re constantly struggling to maintain business operations because of the power irregularities.’
Central to KTA’s brief was an intention to deliver on the Boyd family’s commitment for the site to ‘foster an appreciation for and understanding of landscape and art’, says Thompson. It looks like they have delivered on every count.
Client Bundanon Trust
Architecture Kerstin Thompson Architects Cost Aus$34m Completed March 2022
Sustainable design engineering: Atelier Ten Structural engineers WSP Australia
Services engineering Steensen Varming
Construction Adco
Landscape Wariaght Associates Landscape
Awards the Sulman Medal for Public Architecture, and Sustainable Architecture Award, New South Wales Architecture Awards 2022
This image The 160m-long bridge imitates Australia’s rural trestle flood bridges
From right Central to the museum design brief was to deliver on the Boyd family’s vision of fostering a deeper appreciation of landscape and art
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