Freycinet Lodge Coastal Pavilions: taking their cues from nature

The new RACT Freycinet Lodge Coastal Pavilions offer an immersive accommodation experience within the coastal bush of the Freycinet National Park on Tasmania’s East Coast. Designed by Liminal Studio, the Waterfront Pavilions take their cues from nature.

The form of the buildings is representative of the coastal granite rock’s ‘smooth, rounded and beautiful forms’ on the water’s edge directly in front of the structures. The exterior is clad in charred hardwood to represent the significance of fire and use of charcoal in Aboriginal culture, and internally Tasmanian hardwoods provide warmth and a connection to the wilderness outside.

Tasmanian Oak was used for the wall linings. Solid Blackwood and Blackwood veneer were used for joinery including benchtops and vanities. Tasmanian Oak plywood formed the floors and ceilings.

Coastal Pavilions at Freycinet

Hobart-based builders Cordwell Lane, who specialise in high-end architectural works, were responsible for the construction. Director of Cordwell Lane, Michael Lane, said the design was unique with a few tricky elements to it. “The walls are curved, the roof planes are all on a rake, and each wall plate is also tapered out on a splay,” he explains.

“Using timber helped achieve the curved wall because we kept the boards at a width that could quite easily work around the curves of the design.”

The builders ended up putting on about 12 kilometres of internal linings. The boards were random thickness and lengths creating a patterned effect.

“Timber brings softness to a project,” says Lane. “It softens the room and gives the room a nice textural feel. It’s also really good for layering wall fabrics and breaking a room up. It creates a bit more interest than a bland plasterboard wall.”

The buildings have Tasmanian Oak plywood on the floors and ceilings, which went down in 300mm wide long tiles or “floorboards.”

Coastal Pavilions at Freycinet

“Being a Tasmanian Oak product, meant the ply would provide a really good hard-wearing surface at a lower price point. It also went down quickly, so it saved money on both materials and labour. This allowed us to put more money into the joinery, fittings and fixtures so we could use a more premium timber in the Blackwood.”

Lane says the outcome on the Pods is spectacular – a project they’re really proud of.

Speaking about Tasmanian timbers, Lane says that recommending it is always high on their agenda: “We love using Tasmanian timbers, it’s a great product.

“Using Tasmanian Oak, we know that we’re getting a good quality timber. The availability of it is great and the suppliers that provide it are easy to deal with. Most importantly we know that the timber that turns up is going to behave as it is supposed to – not shrink or warp like some other mainland species do. It’s not as volatile as a lot of those. The moisture content is always good, and we know how it is going to behave.”

Coastal Pavilions at Freycinet

In general, he says “Tassie” timbers are really good quality for internal applications – furniture grade or wall-cladding and linings.

“They’re easy to use in the fact that they’re nice and straight, the grain patterns are usually really good. They’re not that hard that they splinter. Tas Oak in particular doesn’t have a lot of knots, it’s a nice straight grain timber, easy to cut, easy to use, you can easily put a nice arras on the edge for example, and you can nail it onto the wall without it splitting.”

For more information on Tasmanian timber products, samples, stories, events and technical specifications visit tasmaniantimber.com.au or follow @tasmaniantimber on Instagram and /tasmanian_timber on Pinterest.