Project: Airport Terminal, Coober Pedy
Location: Coober Pedy, SA
Location Challenges: Founded on opal mining in a harsh desert climate, Coober Pedy, with a population of about 3,500, has a unique underground-living tradition and character. This has given rise to a thriving tourist industry and each year nearly 200,000 visitors experience this outback centre and its iconic desert scenery. The existing tiny transportable airport terminal has been long-overdue for replacement, and in 2009 the District Council of Coober Pedy commissioned the design process for construction of the new terminal with a budget of $1.3m.
Design Aspects: The design of the new terminal reflects the locality and identity of Coober Pedy. The built-form of the terminal expresses its function by having:
- Wide eaves to shade the walls
- An arched roof form echoing a traditional hangar profile
- Opposing curved canopies invoking the freedom of flight and providing additional shade
- Earth embankments against the walls suggestive of the underground tradition of the area.
- A feature wall of rammed earth to provide local colour and texture
- Internal flooring of polished concrete using local aggregates and embedded green glass chips to add opal-like highlights
- A back-lit display shaft complete with mannequin miner sunk into the concourse floor.
Environmental Innovation: The terminal design, construction and building services are cognisant of its environment and remoteness. Design decisions have been made within the principles established by the Green Building Council of Australia for sustainable buildings. Passive design features include:
- Optimal east-west building axis to minimise solar loading
- Sandwich-panel roofing to provide insulation, long span capability and pre-finished ceiling
- Wide eaves to shade the insulated walls
- Shaded and double-glazed windows for thermal and acoustic insulation
- Light-weight structure to reduce transport costs and speed construction
- Pre-finished materials to reduce maintenance
- Construction and materials that can be recycled in the longer term.
- Inverter-type air-conditioning systems are designed to allow 100% fresh-air ventilation operation when ambient conditions are suitable
- Low-energy high-efficiency lighting systems including some LED fittings
- Building management system to initiate night-time purging of the interior when ambient conditions are suitable
- Power circuits linked to the security system to shut down non-essential power when the building is empty
- Rain-water harvesting and storage for circulation to all sanitary fittings which are WELS-rated for low water consumption.
