This project proposes a new generation restaurant and a home for the caretaker of Perth Observatory. The site is located 35km East of Perth WA, surrounded by dense bushland and dark skies. On a site with rich astronomy history from both pre and post colonisation.
The brief for the project was to breathe new life into the Perth Observatory by creating meaningful experiences for visitors. Drawing inspiration from indigenous ways of life, foraging, sustainability and user experience, this project aims to develop into not just a place of dining but for education.
Architecture is about the environments of humans, about shaping a world to suit our needs for food, living, culture, education, status and so on. The Cosmic restaurant precinct aims to address the environment with 3 structures that shape areas for living, dining and education. The main structure is a contemporary restaurant, bar, and farming hub. The A frame hut is a workshop and foraging room, and lastly there is a family home designed for the caretaker of the Observatory.
The Indigenous Aboriginal way of life sparked much inspiration for the form and function of the buildings to create a deeper connection to country and create a place that speaks of the surrounding landscape.
Cosmic Restaurant
Academic / 2022 / Individual Project
The proposed design aims to create a sensory experience that foster taste, touch, smell, sight and sound. By weaving the indoors and outdoors together a unique experience emerges which allows visitors to have greater linkage to food and where it comes from. Being able to be a part of the farm to plate experience in the foraging/workshop structure, vertical farming and aquaponics will leave visitors with a larger understanding and appreciation of localised foods, found foods, on site farming and displays a prime example of the future of food.
The future of foods experiences at Perth Observatory will focus on providing a sustainable circular education that relies on foraging for foods, native cuisine, eating seasonally, on site cultivation and stepping away from meat focused meals. This aims to support more regional cookery, healthier diets, mindful consuming and sustainable agriculture.
The external sun shading is a revolving circular device, adopting weaving methods from the Noongar nations which were traditional used to create tools such as baskets using the local grass spinifex. The device rotates with the movement of the sun, protecting the internal areas from harsh heat while still allowing in dappled lighting.
Water is caught from the roof and collected in a visible tank. This water is used throughout the restaurant for various functions. The tank is visible to create link to the delicate source of life and wash a sense of calm over the dining/bar experience.
The foraging/workshop hut aim is to be an educational space where foraging groups set off from, collected food is prepared for the kitchen, workshops are conduced about native and seasonal eating, outdoor gardens are nurtured, and stories are shared around the firepit.
The hut is buried amongst the vegetation and gardens to symbolise the value of flora against the built environment. The external growing frame changes seasonally to not only sprout seasonal foods but also acts as a shading device for the internal space. In the warmer months when mor varieties of foods grow the external shading is high, opposingly in the cooler months the vegetations is less and allows more light to enter the building keeping it warm enough to grow internally.
The care taker’s family home is designed to be a private retreat from the rest of the site, a place of refuge at the end of the day. Nested amongst the tree tops this home acts more like a tree house and viewing platform than a conventional home.
The home accommodates 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a laundry, open plan kitchen living and dining with elevated outdoor dining area. The roof of the home doubles as a farming space and personal star gazing platform.