Mon Repos Turtle Centre

KIRK's Mon Repos Turtle Centre devised an innovative and highly sustainable solution to the challenges of building a large public building in the Great Barrier Reef conservation and protection zone.

Located in Bargara, Queensland, the visitor and research centre occupies a sensitive beachside location, Mon Repos beach and environs. This area is the most important turtle nesting ground in Australia hosting key research into the endangered loggerhead turtle and relative impacts of climate change for more than 40 years. The project scope also included master-planning of the entire beachside environs to manage vehicle and pedestrian movement within the sensitive coastal landscape.

The centre operates as an interpretive centre during the day. During the turtle nesting season, it is a briefing centre for up to 300 visitors each evening. Environmental protections require visitors to be guided to and from the centre to the beach in dark night-time conditions via a set of pathways and boardwalks to connect to the beach safely.

The approach was to ensure the new Mon Repos Turtle Centre advanced nature's sustainability and experience across the entire site. This supported our client's vision of bringing people closer to the outdoors and improving their appreciation and knowledge of the natural. An initial key design gesture was siting the new building on the existing asphalt carpark. This moved parking outside the conservation park and allowed a net increase in the landscape along the sensitive beach zone.

In response to the harsh coastal climate and sensitive wildlife surrounds, the building was primarily constructed using timber for structure and linings. The pre-fabricated, locally sourced, Glulam timber diagrid superstructure, external copper folded cladding panels and internal plywood linings removed waste for both manufacturing and onsite assembly while having an enduring life span. Mixed mode, naturally ventilated and daylighting strategies were employed throughout this state-of-the-art Mon Repos Turtle Centre, reducing reliance upon energy-consuming man-made systems.

The positioning of the facility was carefully considered, and the design process analysed how air movement could be maximised by orientation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling. This was a complex design problem and solution, as there was a, briefed required to limit all light spill at night. The design solution used permanent fixed and operable louvres to achieve adequate natural ventilation. The courtyard space is totally naturally ventilated and supplemented with a number of large overhead fans and dramatic triangular skylights. The floor surface is a honed mass concrete that also contributes to the thermal mass of the centre helping modulate the internal temperatures.

Mon Repos Turtle Centre was envisaged from the outset as being constructed in locally grown and manufactured glulam timber. Hyne, a world leader in glulam timber manufacture, is based nearby in Maryborough. The prefabricated timber structure was delivered and fully erected in 2 weeks which saved valuable constructed time. The transportation to the site was minimised through the ability to stack the timber members in single lengths. Erection occurred with a single mobile crane and less than a total of 2-4 riggers.

The use of timber also meant the project could fulfil the 50-year design life in the corrosive marine environment, where a steel structure would be very susceptible to corrosion. Using timber also enabled us to use copper cladding ideal for the harsh marine environment without worrying about bi-metallic corrosion. The timber structure is expected to exceed 50 years of design life and can be reused at the end of its life.

The timber superstructure is a 9.6M x 9.6M diagrid found to be the most efficient structural design to reduce the overall material use and increase spans between glulam 'tree' columns. The diagrid structure also informed the plan shape, creating a multi-faceted series of triangular folds for protected openings to limit light spill while enhancing the mystery of the arrival experience. The diagrid pattern is celebrated throughout the interior, and the diamond pattern implies the intricate patterns of the turtle carapace.