Designing for the landscape

While its physical presence is undoubtedly impressive, what truly makes The Bridge stand out is the way it structurally complements the landscape. The design retains the natural water flow system through a flood gully, proposing a shift in thinking about how we respond to the natural landscape – working with it, rather than against it.

Bundanon’s Art Museum sits at one end of The Bridge as its counterpoint. Where The Bridge towers over the gully, the Art Museum is buried within a reinstated hill. Its subterranean position offers the thermal stability required to protect the artworks inside, and fire-resistant glass and airlocks keep them safe in a region often under threat from bushfires.

The site includes many sustainability features such as passive temperature management, black water treatment and harvesting and storing of rainwater, as well as drawing on solar energy for its day-to-day operations. “The sustainability vision for Bundanon is a net-zero energy result,” Doug says.

Environmentally conscious travellers will relish this eco-friendly approach. It’s also fitting that there will soon be electric vehicle charging stations on the property, so EV drivers will be able to recharge during their visit.

A sense of place

This vision for sustainability carries through in Ramox Café. “The kitchen is electric and powered by solar energy,” Doug says. “We’re keeping our food miles low, really homing in on our local suppliers to give every dish a sense of place. So, people feel like they’re in the country, they are on the Shoalhaven River and that’s reflected in what they are eating.”

It certainly is. The menu at Ramox Café is seasonal and changes regularly to showcase regional produce such as kingfish from Currarong, just near Jervis Bay, and Schottländers Wagyu from Rose Valley. Highlights when we visit include local kingfish served with squash, fennel, and lemon, and beef skirt steak with artichokes, onion and mustard jus.

“What I really relate to with Arthur Boyd’s vision for Bundanon is that he left this to the people of Australia to showcase its beauty,” says Doug. “That’s what I’ve tried to do throughout my career, is contribute to something greater and extend the experience of something that is already special through food.”