MARKS PARK AMENITIES

Public

11 Feb

Written By Guest User

A NEW SKIN FOR OLD BRICK DUNNIES

Lymesmith collaboration with Sam Crawford Architects.

At the Bondi end of Sydney’s Coastal Walk, as the narrow track bends into the curving headlands, the grassy expanse of Marks Park and a coastal panorama from Bondi to Maroubra Beach unfolds at the top of the hill. This majestic stage has long been home to a bunkered barnacle of a public toilet, unarguably as necessary as it was ugly. Being too functional to demolish and start again, the task was to recycle the existing building and transform it into a building worthy of its spectacular location. – Sam Crawford, Architect

The generous veranda, with its painted black ceiling, emphasises the severe geometry of the building and the distant horizon. The timber batten cladding will weather and settle into the muted silver tones of the nearby banksia scrub and sandstone escarpment. Robust materials of terrazzo and ceramic were chosen to remain beautiful with constant use and in the harshness of the elements. New skylights flood the previously dark and dank interiors with natural light, a lightness amplified by the surprising shell pink ceilings and apricot doors.