Jury comment
The Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre provides an outstanding visitor arrival experience to one of Tasmania’s most valued natural wilderness destinations, and an impressive gateway to the state’s Wilderness World Heritage Area. The project interprets the narrative of the site through a bold landscape design and sensitive plantings of slow-growing alpine vegetation. It takes a considered approach to planting design in a protected alpine context, with the outcome resulting in minimal negative impacts to what was a previously disturbed site. The design of the public realm creates an appropriate sense of place and a legible experience for the visitor. As visitors approach the centre, they are drawn into the story of the landscape through plantings of native flora and landscape features that subtly reference aspects of the surrounding ancient landscape. The theme expressed in the plantings will continue to grow and evolve, embedding the alpine theme deeper into the project over time.
Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre is located in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania on the land of the Lairmairrener people.
Project credits
Design practice Playstreet Lead consultant Cumulus Studio Wayfinding consultant Futago Contractor Fairbrother Planting consultant Habitat Plants Photographers Rob Burnett and Cumulus Studio
To view all the winners of the 2021 National Landscape Architecture Awards, go here.
