The City of Fremantle in Western Australia has a coastline of pristine beaches on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
The City’s four main beaches are perfect for swimming, relaxing, kite surfing, paddling, and other leisure activities.
But at Leighton Beach, the change rooms and kiosk needed upgrading and replacement.
So the City of Fremantle commissioned architects Bernard Seeber to design upgraded universal access, enhanced landscaping, and a new kiosk and change rooms at Leighton Beach.
Bernard Seeber’s design specified indigenous vegetation be used to reinstate the landscaping, stabilize dune structure, and provide universal access to the beach.
The new kiosk, with covered and shaded seating, caters for beach-goers as well as visitors to nearby picnic and park facilities.
Timber was the primary material used by Bernard Seeber and informal beach culture informed the design.
The design is adaptable to cater for anticipated future growth with the new change rooms connecting public space and leading visitors to the beach access point.
These new facilities have external showering and internal change, showering, and toilets, with both family and universally accessible facilities provided.
The change room building is positioned strategically to the first dune formation.
That way, it was both protected and a protector.
Planning follows the dune and is linear enabling connection in the landscape while facilitating separation of users through a single point of securable access.
The building sits in sympathy with the surrounding natural environment and uses features of the natural environment to enhance the architecture.
And abundant natural ventilation, light, and shade are present.
Effective planning and the use of appropriate materials helped drive down the cost of long-term maintenance and servicing whilst assisting with vandalism control.
A restrained material palette ensured that the change room building sits quietly within the dune landscape.
The activity of the user groups adds the dynamic quality whilst the vibrant ‘orange’ of the kiosk acts as a marker.
The building is now a familiar meeting point for both beach-goers and visitors to the adjacent open park space.
Project Details
Site Area – 2,440 m2
Total Building Area – 307 m2
Change Rooms Building Area – 215 m2
Kiosk Building Area – 92 m2
Completion Date – 2016
Project Team
Architecture
Bernard Seeber
Bernard Seeber is an architectural, interiors and management practice that has provided continuous professional services since 1983 and has been recognised for excellence through significant industry awards.
Structural and Electrical Engineering
Wood and Grieve Engineers
Global design firm Stantec acquired Wood and Grieve Engineers, an award-winning, engineering consulting company.
WGE provides civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, hydraulics engineering, and a broad range of related specialty services for clients throughout Australia.
The firm brings more than 600 talented engineers and specialists distributed across offices in Albany, Busselton, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.
Hydraulics Engineering
Hydraulics Design Australia
Hydraulics Design Australia provides a diverse range of professional skills covering every aspect of hydraulic service design, infrastructure planning and strategic property solutions.
Building Surveying
BuildingLines
BuildingLines is a team of building design and approval specialists providing a complete, expert service from initial brief and design concept right through to delivering building approvals.
Photography
Douglas Mark Black
Douglas photographs architectural, design, and landscape architecture projects throughout Western Australia for local, national and multi-national client organisations within the construction sector.
His work is regularly featured in architectural media online and in print.
With an international working background in architecture, Douglas brings a unique perspective to his photographic approach.
His conceptual photography has been sold as limited edition fine art prints, used within commercial interiors projects, and featured on a number of international book covers.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2020 Bernard Seeber. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2020 Douglas Mark Black. All Rights Reserved.
Other Civic Projects
Mitcham Memorial Library, Smiths Beach SLSC Tower.
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