Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre
Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre
TERROIR
MANUFACTURERS
Colorbond, Dulux, Laminex, Corian, Mack Bros Roofing Products, Mortlock Timber Group
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Tract
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Stantec
CIVIL ENGINEER
Stantec
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Stantec
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Stantec
LIGHTING CONSULTANT
Stantec
TOWN PLANNING
Tract
PROJECT LEADER
Emily Slevin
AUDIO VISUAL
Stantec
PROJECT TEAM
"Paul Sayers, Michael Carlotto, Jack Andrews, Kate Hyland, Matt Flack "
DIRECTORS
Scott Balmforth, Gerard Reinmuth
FIRE ENGINEER
Stantec
WAYFINDING
Buro North
HOSPITALITY CONSULTANT
Alto Cibum
BUSHFIRE CONSULTANT
Terramatrix
BUILDING SURVEYOR
Steve Watson Partners
CATEGORY
Visitor Center
YEAR
2021
LOCATION
Emerald, Australia
Text description provided by the architects.
The iconic Puffing Billy Railway is a much-loved tourist attraction located within the Dandenong Ranges, 40 kilometres east of Melbourne. Emerald Lake Park is a scenic destination for many, centrally located on the railway.
The importance of this stop on the railway was recognised with the decision to build a new Discovery Centre consisting of a café, commercial kitchen, visitor information services, interpretations, function rooms, staff offices, retail, educational facilities and amenities.
The project brings together train enthusiasts and local park goers, creating a unique tourism amenity offering which collects the many users of the site in a single but complex building.
The complex brief resulted in a building larger than would have historically been located on the railway line.
The decision was made to design a new spatial experience and a unique geometry that is distinct from the old train stations, but one that depended on the relationship between visitors and the train platform for its organisational logic.
