Through its fluid and embracing forms, raw natural materials and subdues light, the building provides a healing refuge for the fragile folk-soul to meet the future with hope and pride. It is a living cultural centre, not a museum, where indigenous culture is taught and practiced. Displays, workshops and tours give an Aboriginal perspective and encourage protection of the vulnerable archaeological and art sites. Aborigines staff manages the Centre.
The building is the result of ten years of discussion between representatives of five Aboriginal communities and government, environmental, cultural and tourism bodies. An intensive twelve-month ‘hands-on’ collaboration between community elders and the architects followed. Their dominant spiritual sensitivity to the land, and pride in the nearby recently discovered 8000 year old stone dwellings and sophisticated weir systems, were awakened and became significant factors in guiding the evolution of the design. The communities’ individual totems animated and underlie this design – The Eel (ramp), the Whale (ridge-spine), the Eagle (roof forms), Stone (base, fireplace and floor) and the tree (posts).
The building’s complex undulating form and dynamic balance is a highly responsive participant in a lively conversation with people and nature, bringing past, present and future into play. It sits beside a creek, in the centre of a spectacular valley, with adjacent wetlands, developed to control winter ground water. An alignment with the highest peaks on either side of the valley (from which hikers can look down) is reinforced from inside by dramatically framed views and the central fireplace. This concentrates and extends the powerful surrounding landscape. Immediately around the building, earth berms protect an arborium of edible and medicinal plants.
Traditional building techniques are married with advanced timber technology to create a responsive organic building within an extremely tight budget. Economic and speedy construction was aided by the use of pre-fabricated 1200mm wide tilt-up timber wall system suing radiata pine framing and plywood skin, which also acts as an internal lining.
A massive central stone chimney (a radiant heart of warmth in winter) supports a segmented ridge beam, constructed from short lengths of straight LVL, lapped and nailed using nail gusset technology from industrial buildings to form the complex warped surfaces required for the roof. Curved handrails and external cladding were economically steam bent on site with an improvised steam chamber. Integrated into the structure are 100-year-old recycled local mud bricks together with new bricks made by community members. Aboriginal carpenters (including a young woman) and labourers were employed in the construction.
Brambuk has already created intense pride and a sense of ownership amongst Koories and is playing a key role in black/white reconciliation. Brambuk’s widely acknowledged success has been underpinned by the highest State and National awards for architecture and eco-tourism, and has become an inspiration for the initiation of Aboriginal cultural centres around Australia.
Brambuk is a spiritual and cultural icon for contemporary indigenous identity.
ASSESSMENT:
National Parks Service
The Centre is the focus of activities for the five Aboriginal communities comprising the Brambuk organization.
To design such a building meant facing the problem of providing a structure housing reception area, displays, auditorium, restaurant and similar facilities in a restaurant and similar facilities in a way that was compatible with a culture-whose nomadic lifestyle utilized only the most simple and temporary shelters.
Yet to the many thousands of visitors who utilize this building each year, this building achieves this seemingly impossible objective simply, impressively and functionally.
I have been Chief Ranger for the National Parks Service at Halls Gap since late 1993 and the National Park Visitor Centre is located 200 metres from Brambuk.