Forecourt for Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies

The question was how to improve the quality of the existing place, without diverting from its core material and spatial qualities. At the same time, there were two distinct comments in play, even if currently they consisted of the same material – the concrete apron. At the street-facing forecourt, a cluster of triangular concrete prisms were installed as both an entry marker and public seating arrangement. These were interspersed with miniature planted landscapes which offered an intriguing counterpoint to the context of the Antarctic, for which the building is named and used. To its east, the wharf’s austere concrete apron is furnished with a series of curved, oblong seating structures that create abstraction yet also contain a public invitation. Their lyrical form is based on a supersized version of the wharf bollard found elsewhere in the area. Both these bollards, and the planters at the street, make connections with the two places – Hobart wharf and Antarctica – connected through the researchers in the building adjacent.