THE BRIEF
Wollongong City Council is upgrading visitor facilities and heritage interpretation
through the provision of the Blue Mile Heritage Walk linking Brighton Lawn Reserve to
Flagstaff Hill. The development is being undertaken in three stages. Stage 1 and 2
involve the construction of new footpaths from Cliff Road, to Endeavour Drive, to the
Harbour Access Road. In Stage 3, the Council seeks to construct two elements
adjacent to the footpath on the northern side of Endeavour Drive overlooking Belmore
Basin. These are the Phase I - Stairs and the Phase II - Viewing Deck.
The proposed Viewing Deck will mark the former location of one of the historic
Belmore Basin coal staithes, and will establish a lookout and interpretation platform.
An important associated proposal is for the provision of new stair access from the
proposed Heritage Walk Stage 2 Promenade at or adjacent to existing stone steps,
which are required to be preserved but do not comply with current standards.
THE PHILOSOPHY
POC+P firmly believe that some of the  most iconic designs today occur
at the  intersection of old traces of industrial and human endeavour with a
contemporary cultural demand. It is often the direct and indirect collision + collusion of
the past and future ideas, methods, means, machinery and modernity that infuses projects
with their energy and dynamic potential.

THE STRATEGY
In approaching the project, there was the need to understand the Staithes: what they
were, how they evolved, and what remained, before the design could consider how
they might be commemorated. The scheme is situated south-west of the old stairs to
avoid disturbing potential archaeological deposits on the immediate site.

ORIENTATION
The orientation of the viaduct scheme for the viewing deck was derived from the
angle of the original tram lines that led to the staithes as represented in the 1870’s.

SIZE AND FORM
The viaduct form provides a substantial area designed for crowd loads to maximise
the potential for groups to interpret the former staithes and inset tramtracks. The
sharp cantilevering forms of the scheme bring a playfulness that also complements
the natural sombre angles of the staithes.

MATERIALITY
For the scheme to communicate with its context, materiality was carefully considered
by observing the characteristics of existing contemporary urban design within the
Belmore Basin area, as well as the more earthy and historical textures of the more
immediate site itself.
The desire to use steel as a predominant material in the scheme stemmed from a
number of practical and interpretive factors, the most important of which was the
design intention to not reproduce a staithe: it is important to interpret and represent
history as is generally accepted under the Burra Charter, and not encounter the
problem of verisimilitude whereby the representation would be confused with an
actual historical staithe.

MARINE LIFE
The viewing platform is an ideal vantage to observe marine life especially the
celebrated stingrays known to frequent the Belmore Basin.

SILHOUETTE
Silhouettes are used to suggest the history of the staithe in an abstract way and also
cast dynamic shadows on the ground. Layering the silhouettes creates a
three-dimensional feature that reveals itself to visitors as they navigate the site. Given
the heavily corrosion of Corten steel evident elsewhere in the area, these silhouettes
would be constructed in durable ship-building steel known as Monel.