The vision for this facility was to provide a hub which connects the Port to the Town centre, including a Port Facing Café/ Bar, a shop for tourists and facilities for the Mariners.

The design is a bold, civic scale response to allow the building to maintain a presence in the heavy industrial context and provide a response which merits the location at the nexus of the town and the port.

The extreme coastal location, region D cyclone zone and direct exposure to the iron ore and salt loading facilities next door determined a robust and highly considered process of detailing and material selection.

A rigorous planning process was undertaken which balanced the design outcome with a tight budget. This was achieved through early involvement of cost planning services to limit the area of the building to suit the m2 rate allowed which was then used as a basis for all decisions on planning and scope.