Bundanon Art Museum’s 160 Metre Bridge & Learning Centre is World Class
Bundanon’s New World-Class Art Museum and Bridge for Creative Learning Opens Soon
Bundanon Art Museum (opening 29 January), designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) will present a year-round program of modern, contemporary, and First Nations art, as well as new commissions. Bundanon is located on 1,000 hectares of bush and parkland overlooking the Shoalhaven River, on the South Coast of New South Wales, 2.5 hours from Sydney.
The Bridge is a 160-metre long by 9-metre-wide structure that spans the existing gully in the sloping hillside, and is treated like a piece of flood infrastructure with the architecture supporting the natural system of water flow across the site. Housed within is a creative learning centre, accommodation for up to 64 guests and café and dining facilities. The Art Museum and Collection Store are subterranean, with precious artworks housed and exhibited in an underground building that protects the works from diverse climate conditions and offers thermal stability in the form of the reinstated hill.
We have placed the site’s ecology at the centre of the design with the new suite of buildings and landscapes responding to Bundanon as both subject and site of Arthur Boyd’s work, seeking to heighten the visitor’s appreciation for the sights, sounds, textures, and ecological workings of the landscape,” Kerstin Thompson, Director of Kerstin Thompson Architects.
The Bridge encompasses Bundanon’s net-zero ambitions. Powered by solar panels it incorporates exemplary sustainability features including passive temperature management, black water treatment, harvesting and storing of rainwater, local materials throughout, and reduced reliance on fossil fuel sources.
The new facilities include the Ramox Café, which will feature seasonal paddock-to-plate menus, with quality produce sourced from the surrounding Shoalhaven region. Local wineries and breweries are championed in the drinks menu.
Established in 1993, Bundanon was gifted to the Australian people by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, representing one of the most significant acts of philanthropy in the history of the arts in Australia.
Bundanon’s mission is to operate the property as a centre for creative arts and education, for scientific research, and a place to explore the landscape and engage with First Nations history and culture.
The Collection features some 1,448 works by Arthur Boyd together with Boyd’s contemporaries such as Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Joy Hester, and Charles Blackman.
Visit Bundanon Arts Museum.
