New Dove Lake Viewing Shelter

[Son of a Beach]

I happened to be in the area yesterday, so I took a look through the new viewing shelter at Dove Lake, having only seen it from a distance, previously.

It really is quite bizarre.

It's quite a large building, that seems to consist of a series of corridors that go nowhere. Honestly, they could have achieved the same thing taking up a tiny fraction of the footprint. It is as though they thought they have this car-park sized space to work with, so we better cover it all with the new building. It's a real shame they didn't build something less huge (and less ugly), and rehabilitate the rest of the old car park space instead.

Apart from all that, it is just a mish-mash of ugly, angular, concrete block shapes, with floor-to-ceiling windows along the front. It's butt-ugly, but that seems to be what architecture is all about, I guess. It most certainly does NOT blend into the environment!

It would be difficult to take photos of it in such a way that made it look even uglier than the photos that various architectural bodies have posted on their websites to show it off. Eg: https://architizer.com/projects/dove-la ... g-shelter/

I wonder if some pencil pines eventually started blocking the view of the mountain from those windows... I bet they'd cut them down, pronto.

View from Marions Lookout

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[north-north-west]

It's an ugly, soulless concrete canyon. Totally inappropriate for the place.
But, hey they can fit heaps of people in there and that's all that matters.

[miss-linda]

I'm not a fan.
Walking up the road you get a sense of a building trying to compete with Cradle mountain, by getting in the way of the mountain and lake.
Thanks for the link to the architect site with the wanky architectspeak - "Sited carefully to conceal Dove Lake on approach to build a sense of anticipation for visitors"
I am surprised that anyone could think that was a good thing.
Unfortunately I didn't get a sense of anticipation, just a feeling of sadness and loss

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, it's upsetting that it blocks the view of the lake (and much of the view of the mountain), but actually shocking to think that was a deliberate goal.

[Nuts]

It actually looks better, at a distance, than a carpark full of cars and buses. And i'd expect the northern/ approach view would be with a cable car in mind?

Still have no faith in visioning, here a mostly under-earth building (like the toilet) must have been possible. With a carpark /buses turn around, back lower behind the hill (an early model discussed).

[crollsurf]

It's called butalist architecture, and it's been around since the 50s and still winning awards. It's about making a statement. Look at me and how I stand out in the environment. I quite liked the new visitor centre but not this. Economically, it will become a maintenance nightmare because the raw concrete will lose its butalist cleanliness.

And what an eyesaw for anyone looking down on it. Looks like a tradies waste site.

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[WestcoastPete]

Frank Lloyd Wright developed the "compression and release" concept in architecture, which is what they've gone for here. Here's a quick Google definition.

Also, I think the idea is that concrete will patina and maybe have lichens etc grow on it, and so maybe blend in a bit.

One of the problems I have with it is that it needs pretty cool air blowing over the windows to stop them fogging up. It works, but it makes the space pretty cold. I really like the geological information in there. I love explaining to the kids about how old everything around them is, not that it's possible to grasp, even as an adult.

[Moh]

Architect's statement for those interested.
"Dove Lake Viewing Shelter’s scored exterior creates a rhythmic pattern echoing Cradle Valley's geological characteristics while also promoting the growth of lichen over the concrete structure in the years to come. Robust materials and finishes were chosen to withstand extreme weather conditions, high volumes of visitors, and provide an enduring space that required minimal maintenance and energy consumption.

Sited carefully to conceal Dove Lake on approach to build a sense of anticipation for visitors, the footprint of the shelter is considerably less than the original car park which occupied the site. Endemic plant species, propagated from the surrounding environment, have been used to rehabilitate previously disturbed areas that are now given back to the delicate landscape."

[Mechanic-AL]

Unfortunately I didn't get a sense of anticipation, just a feeling of sadness and loss

Me too.

But I don't even have to get to the viewing platform. Just pulling into the visitor centre carpark makes me feel sad.
Thankfully there are still so many amazing places south of Dove Lake for those happy to explore that can still be enjoyed with nobody (well....hardly anybody) around.
I still feel incredibly fortunate that I get the chance to experience a lot of what's out there compared to the average day visitor.

[matagi]

It is still a relatively new building. Once it is covered in lichens and mosses, it will look much better.

[Son of a Beach]

It is still a relatively new building. Once it is covered in lichens and mosses, it will look much better.

I agree that it will look much better then. In fact, from Marions lookout it already looks better than the car park full of cars and busses.

But even when covered in lichens and mosses, it will still block the view of the lake and the mountain when approaching from the North, it will still be several times larger than necessary, and still be awfully ugly.

[Tortoise]

And I don't expect much will change to improve the cold, dingy, ugly concrete hallways inside.

[phATty]

I'll admit it's an architecturally and aesthetically pleasing building but it has no real place at Dove Lake. I agree, the concrete is just too cold and industrial for where it is and it just really ruins the feeling of isolation. Yes, while I understand that Dove Lake is probably the least isolated place in the whole of the park, the Lake St Clair end for example feels much more like wilderness, even with all the infrastructure.

If they were going to build anything there, I would think a nice accessible, flat boardwalk to a wide timber deck would be much nicer, they could make a picnic area in the carpark with smaller timber shelters throughout.

The visitor center is already brutalist in itself and reminds me of the rusted exterior of MONA. Again, an architecturally nice building in the completely wrong location.