Creative Communities

Architectural Heritage

The legacy of Tasmania’s past is evident in the many colonial buildings that scatter the island. From gracious country manors to the ruins of penal settlements long-deserted, Tasmania has a rich and fascinating architectural heritage.

Tasmania’s built heritage is not confined to Hobart and Launceston. Richmond, Ross, Evandale, Latrobe, Hamilton and Oatlands are particularly noted for their fine collections of historic architecture.

There are excellent examples of early Georgian buildings from the time of first settlement, through the elegant Regency period and into the elaborate Victorian era – where the Gothic Revival and Italianate style flourished. The Federation period produced numerous grand homes and civic buildings celebrating the new state of Tasmania. Fine examples of 1930s houses and cinemas can be seen today, as well as the distinctive ‘ocean liner’ style made popular in this period.

Contemporary Tasmanian Design

Contemporary architectural design in Australia’s island state can represent a uniquely Tasmanian perspective: a distinctive environmental consciousness interpreted and applied within the powerful Tasmanian landscape. It’s a ‘touch the earth lightly’ approach that befits an island with great swathes of World Heritage wilderness. Here the wilds are the star, not the buildings, despite innovative bespoke design.

Bay of Fires

The Bay of Fires lodge in north-east Tasmania is architect Ken Latona’s fourth multi-award-winning project following environmentally responsible design principles. Like his lodges at Freycinet and Cradle Mountain National Parks, Latona’s Bay of Fires lodge is a self-sustaining structure, with composting toilets, rainwater collectors and solar power. It’s all about minimal impact architecture in maximum impact locations.

For more information check: www.bayoffires.com.au.

Avalon Coastal Retreat

Avalon Coastal Retreat, near Swansea, places its guests within a living work of art, a Tasmanian crystal palace, one of elegance and light. Award-winning architect Craig Rosevear used steel and glass to complement the natural beauty of the location and provide the ultimate in luxury – perched on a cliff top overlooking Great Oyster Bay and the Freycinet Peninsula.

For more information check: www.avaloncoastalretreat.com.au.

The IXL development

Once the site of an old jam factory on Hobart’s docks, the sandstone warehouses were transformed by architects Morris-Nunn + Associates into a boutique hotel, atrium and retail outlets. The development has won a swag of national architectural awards, including the 2005 RAIA Tasmania Environmental Design Award.

For more information check: www.morrisnunn.com.au.

Federation Concert Hall

Hobart’s striking Federation Concert Hall is a large, brass-plated cylinder clinging to the side of the Hotel Grand Chancellor on Davey Street. Its once gleaming exterior has weathered with time (along with the hall’s controversy) and the venue has been embraced as the home for the renowned Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

The Federation Concert Hall is a multi-purpose venue, hosting conferences, forums and, of course, regular performances by the Orchestra.

Controversial Architecture

There have, of course, been some less-lauded buildings in Tasmania’s architectural history:

• Wrest Point hotel casino, Australia’s first legal casino opened in 1973. The hotel’s distinctive 64-metre-high octagonal tower stands out clearly in the riverside suburb of Sandy Bay.
• Empress Towers: built 1964, much to the horror of the Battery Point Progress Association. Hobart’s dalliance with high-rise residential accommodation has left a striking impact on the historic village of Battery Point.