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Vision Magazine
What are some of the new facilities?
There’s a club lounge, club-room/community
function space, hall of champions, caretakers
flat, offices, restaurant and café, club and public
amenities, gym, nippers canteen, lifeguard room,
and storage areas for rescue equipment,
surfboats and boards.
What about its narrow-volume shape?
The roof shape reflects the abstract form of sand
dunes and the plane of the ceiling and eave echoes
the plane of the ocean and horizon. Glass provides
unobtrusive flexibility and thermal performance.
The building is naturally ventilated and highly
insulated. It uses minimal energy and collects
its own rainwater and solar power.
Once you met the operational requirements,
what other attitude did you want it to reflect?
Flexibility is vital. One of the key design decisions
was the substantial circulation space that opens
to the clubroom, lounge bar and entertaining
spaces. We have some big functions for those
events that can be operated independently,
or be opened right up. The restaurant and café
will have a commercial operator.
What is the breakup of community use
versus surf club?
It’s open to a pretty wide range from school groups
to yoga sessions. The surf club operates mainly
on Sundays for the nippers training, and there are
bronze, proficiency and Surf Rescue certificate
training sessions most weeknights. The bar operates
on Fridays and Sunday afternoons and there’s gym
training every weekday. Plenty of clubs feel like
they are private and members of the public aren’t
welcome. Ours is definitely designed to be much
more inclusive.
Was it obvious from the outset that it would
have this linear form?
We considered various options, but it felt appropriate
to follow the line of Avalon Beach. It’s one big
sand dune and this linear structure offers the best
opportunity for beach access, storage and better
views from the first floor areas which essentially
are the living and high usage areas.
Beach Culture