2015 Kenilworth Designer Dunny Competition

Shortlisted entry “The Changing Spiral”

Due to seasonal flooding of the adjacent Mary River, the facility had to be located at least 3.6 metres above existing ground level. At the same time the facility had to be accessible to people in wheelchairs, which required a 1 in 14 slope ramp to be provided. With an almost 50m long ramp therefore required the challenge was to design something eye-catching, functional and responsive to the beautiful natural setting.

My design “The Changing Spiral” was one of 12 proposals shortlisted from a field of 185 entries. The design is a light filled timber-slat cylinder, accessed by a spiral ramp that touches the ground lightly.

The jury citation for The Changing Spiral had this to say about the proposal: “This is a modern classical approach to the brief. The access ramp floats above the green recreational ground plane via suspension cables from the translucent slatted building core that sits at the journeys destination towards the centre of the spiral. The ramp would have the characteristics of a mountain valley suspension bridge giving the user a sense of adventure as they begin their hike to the la-la. During the day the truncated cylindrical ‘tank like’ outline with its whimsical red ribbon spiral ramp would present as an eye catching sculptural form for passing motorists and park users at the threshold to the township of Kenilworth.

At night time, with appropriate lighting it would appear as a glowing ‘lantern like’ structure heralding the gateway to the town and collective creative character of the Kenilworth peoples. The spaces between the slatted timber carcass are large enough apertures for the view and vistas to be continually observed as one accesses the facility. These transparent spatial tectonics also allows filtered views of treescape and landscape through the toilet pavilion to the surroundings on the other side.”