Project Status: Sketch Design

Location: Rottnest Island, WA

Year: 2013

Project Description:

a+a macliver recently prepared a series of sketch design concepts for the redevelopment of the Rottnest Lodge on Perth’s famous holiday island of Rottnest. Rottnest is located 30km offshore from the port of Fremantle and is a popular holiday destination for many West Australians. The scheme was developed in-conjunction with Nordic Homes to develop a construction method which would allow the buildings to be manufactured on the mainland and transported by ferry to the island.

The concept behind the accommodation units was to blur the line between the interior and exterior, challenging the use of space in a typical resort style room. The additional challenge was to ensure the buildings could be transported not only by ferry but via truck on the main land and forklift on the island. The ‘service pods’ in the centre of each module provide the necessary amenities to the occupants and are allowed to expand and contract depending on the requirements of the space at a particular time of day. The bathroom section of the pod can be fully ‘opened up’ to the exterior or ‘closed down’ for privacy. The feeling of sitting in your bath, open to the elements, over looking Garden Lake creates a memorable holiday experience and challenges the stereotypical notion of a ‘hotel room’. The prefabricated units allowed for the building elements to touch the ground lightly and avoid disturbing the delicate ecosystem that exists around the lake and across the island itself.