February - July 2018

A project for an eco-pilgrimage in the Gold Coast hinterland. The multi-day Great Walk trail invites hikers to gain better appreciation of the region through elemental encounters and experiences observing, measuring and recording the landscape.

The Gold Coast is an icon of Australian tourism, but its hinterland counterpart is relatively little known to the masses. Instead, this region draws hikers and scientists alike, keen to immerse themselves in the ancient natural wonders of the Gondwanan rainforest and Tweed Volcano caldera.

The project for proposes a pilgrimage for the hiker-researcher—the citizen-scientist. Following the Great Walk trail established only a decade ago, the pilgrim explores, measures and records the landscape through elemental experiences with air, earth, water and fire.

The walk is three days in full—beginning at Green Mountain high up on the Lamington Plateau, traversing Binna Burra, down into the Numinbah Valley and Woonoongoora, and ending in Springbrook. The four stations proposed—each corresponding with a different element—are distributed over these three days of the walk.

The first of the stations is the Meteorological Lookout located at Wanungara—an early encounter with the volcano caldera (the largest in the southern hemisphere) and NSW border. The spectacular vantage at this spot is also exposed to the hydrological systems essential to the hinterland ecology.

This station harnesses the diverse effects of the weather through measurement as well as through visual and haptic sensation, and allows hikers to participate in the lookout as they see fit. The wind vane and cup anemometer provide a scientific reading of wind velocity, while spinning kites and tensile cords translate the wind into effects which both obscure and reveal the view.

The entire platform of the lookout slopes to immerse the hiker within this experience and a single walkway invites the hiker to fly a detachable kite at its point, weather conditions permitting.

Binna Burra—which translates to “where the Beech trees grow”—is at the heart of the second station’s location and design. Here—specifically at Tullawallal, the local summit – a pocket of Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei ) trees survives from the Gondwanan era. This type of tree is an important natural and indigenous cultural relict; one that also possesses intricate root structures that reflect their crown-like formations.

The design of this station transposes the Antarctic Beech ring into a pathway for observation, affording hikers the opportunity to discard their packs and engage with the mycology (the study of fungi) in this region.

The elevated, narrow ring walkway is supported by outrigger I-beams from vertical logs. These logs serve as reminder of the relatively recent clearing of the local valley, as in the dry season they remain bare. Yet, in the wet season, they harbour unique species of fungi—from the Beech Orange to polypores and corals.

Constructed in part from local timbers—hoop pine and red cedar, including charred pine—as well from weathering steel and mesh, the walkway itself ramps and steps. It offers different reverberations, sounds and experiences for the hiker walking above the earth’s floor.

The third station is situated at the trek’s second night campsite. Being the most remote of all the overnight stops, and also largely open to the sky, this site lends itself well to star-gazing.

The design comprises several small shelters that are able to move, rotate and pivot. Like a wheelbarrow, each structure can be pushed or pulled by its occupants to any location among the campsite field.

The pivoting hemisphere beneath the platform means that even when the shelter is stationary, to a small degree it is able to tilt side-to-side when occupied. This provides a sensation akin to the motion of stars across the night sky and enables occupants to lean in the direction of their gaze.

The shell acts as a wind shield independent of the structure, allowing the manipulation of an environment suited to individual comfort, at the same time, affecting the sky panorama viewed from within the shelter. The charred exterior makes these shelters private, whereas the blonde interior invites warmth.

At the final station of the trail is the Reflective Baths at Warringa Pool.

Being near the end of the hike, this station presents an opportunity for cleansing and reflection; though, rather than focussing on introspection, the design for the baths draws hikers’ awareness to their surroundings.

Through a dual concave and convex curvature, the reflective metals used to construct the baths reflect not only the outdoor surrounds, but the patterns and ripples of water which float just above their submerged surfaces. The three baths are each coated in a different metal—copper, chrome and zinc-iron alloy—and attached to a larger dish which provides wading entry to the water above the rocky basin. These metals each possess different thermal conductivities and so each bath experience has its own water temperature and sensation.

Over time, it’s imagined each bath will itself harbour a unique ecology, similar to the biome captured within a petri dish, though rising and falling rainwater levels will continue to affect these baths and their individual environments.

At the water’s edge is a camouflaged changing room, which in fact comprises several doors that can be pivoted to form one’s own enclosure. The highly mirrored exterior is contrasted with a warm timber and ply interior, which reveals only a glimpse of itself when unoccupied.