The Karijini Interpretive Centre relates to landscape, people and culture

The Visitor Centre in Karijini National Park in the remote Pilbara is set in one of Australia’s most extraordinary landscapes. Integrated with its surroundings, the building form confidently engages with the inherent strength of the landscape.

The cultural symbol chosen by the aboriginal stakeholders for the form of the building is a Kurrumanthu (goanna/lizard). The design objective was to represent, through the built form, respect for the intentions of the aboriginal stakeholders and to stimulate interest in a reappraisal of our collective past. 

The building is defined by an assembled collection of freestanding overlapping weathered steel wall panels which emerge directly from the red brown earth and are arranged in plan to provide an abstract representation of the Kurrumanthu. Entry into the building is through glass doors set between two of the steel wall panels. Once inside, large frameless glass windows draw the visitor back into the picturesque landscape at every turn.

The design result is an ambiguous form that is absorbed by the landscape and open to interpretation on a number of levels. Shaped in the form of a goanna, the building’s dramatic 6m high walls made of weathered steel will rust to the same colour as the surrounding iron ore landscape.

The building and its interpretative display informs its audience about the park and the emotive theme of the stolen generation. The design provides a unique response to the landscape, history and climate, with the landscape remaining the most powerful image.

The project continues to attract international acclaim for the way in which it relates to both the landscape and the important cultural messages contained within.