Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre

Research Background
In the 1990s, in response to depleting barramundi numbers and an upsurge in fishing tourism, local fishermen from the small town of Karumba on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria, established a barramundi hatchery and humble interpretive centre. In 2016, recognising the economic and tourism potential of expanding this site, the Queensland Government’s Building Our Regions initiative substantially funded Bud Brannigan Architects to undertake a major upgrade of the centre.

Research Contribution
The vastly expanded and upgraded Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre (LWBDC) is a bold design that speaks directly to the town’s industrial landscape and love of large structures. Curving elegantly around a pond stocked with barramundi, the 130-metre long shed-like centre offers an interpretive gallery, conference room, café and shop designed to entice the town’s 5,000 annual visitors and provide expanded opportunities for tourism, employment and educational collaboration. The site, located 800 kms from major suppliers and fabricators and 2,000 kms from the architects’ Brisbane offices, required unique design and construction methods to realise the complex build.

Research Significance
LWBDC had a significant impact on the local region. The project won the State Award for Public Architecture at the 2018 Queensland Architecture Awards, and in the Far North Qld Region category won the Eddie Oribin Award for Building of the Year, the People’s Choice Award and a Public Architecture commendation. It was state shortlisted for the Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture and won the ArchiTeam Award for Community Building. Architectural drawings and models of the project were subsequently exhibited in ‘Australia Now’, an Australian Government initiative showcasing contemporary Australia in Japan. LWBDC featured in leading industry publications including ‘Architecture Australia’ and Japan’s ‘Architecture and Urbanism’.