RAIA Commercial Award, Environment Citation

Pee Wees at the Point by Troppo

This is an article from the Architecture Australia archives and may use outdated formatting


Views of the restaurant’s
south facade and dining deck.

Pee Wee Camp, in Darwin’s East Point Reserve, has been a popular seaside destination for picnics and outdoor weddings. In a project initiated by the Darwin City Council, a developer has built on this point a flexible pavilion for dining and functions. The architecture is sensitive to many existing relics and gathering places of heritage significance; particularly the Sidney Williams Huts, which inspired the new building’s shed aesthetic. The scheme incorporates many environmentally sensitive strategies and tropical treatments for passive cooling and ventilation, and there is an on-site sewerage treatment system using worms as a composting agent. The materials palette is steel, polycarbonate sheet, glass louvres, plantation timber decking and hoop pine plywood linings.

Jury Verdict

Pee Wees is Troppo Architects at their best. It is a Darwin building: its
site, design, materials and construction are all unmistakably part of the tropical north. It is not just a restaurant but a café, function centre and ‘mess’ for the growing army of recreational users at Pee Wee Point. A light, ephemeral structure which appears to float flimsily is actually anchored solidly with a concealed steel structure to resist cyclone conditions.

It features feathered cantilevering and Custom Orb zincalume, contrasting precise modern engineering with vernacular materials. The natural light available through the high southern clerestorey provides a bright interior ambience. Views to the sea and Fanny Bay are maximised, with a hierarchy of seating options from indoors to verandah, patio, lawn and shore.

It is an imaginative and beautiful design rooted in the traditions of the
site and the Territory and representing both an excellent commercial solution and a sensitive interaction with the locale.

Environment Citation
This restaurant is remarkable for its respect of and interaction with the historic site. Its placement, orientation, materials and climate strategies (within tropical cyclone restrictions) also demonstrate environmental responsibility. In straddling the concrete slabs on which previous sheds were built, it acknowledges the texture of the existing building and historic elements.

The only air conditioning is in the kitchen and the water is heated by solar methods with gas boosting. Lack of air conditioning in the public spaces is overcome by the openness of the building and the ceiling fans.

The project demonstrates passive cooling techniques for the tropics, including excellent cross-ventilation, shading, sheltering of walls and openings and use of heat-reflective materials.

This project deserves the Environment Citation for its simple approach
to a difficult problem which is too often solved by closing off the interior from the natural environment.

It sets a benchmark for such buildings in the hot, humid tropics.

Louvre and door detail to restaurant.

Views of the restaurant’s south facade and dining deck.

Images: David Silva

Source

Archive

Published online: 1 Nov 1998

Issue

Architecture Australia, November 1998

Related topics

More archive

See all
The November 2020 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia. November issue of LAA out now

A preview of the November 2020 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia.

The May 2021 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia. May issue of LAA out now

A preview of the May 2021 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia.

Most read

Latest on site

LATEST PRODUCTS