A paleotourism centre in Muttaburra has been honoured at the Australian Institute of Architects' 2022 Central Queensland Regional Architecture Awards.
The Muttaburrasaurus Interpretation Centre, designed by architect Brian Hooper, an outdoor museum that showcases the history of one of the most significant fossilised dinosaur skeletons found in Australia, has won the JW Wilson Award for Building of the Year Central Queensland and received commendations for Public Architecture and Sustainable Architecture.
The centre tells the story of local grazier Doug Langdon who discovered a large, fossilized dinosaur skeleton near the town in 1963.
Named Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, the dinosaur lived around 100 million years ago and was around seven metres long.
The interpretation centre is a self-guided facility that offers scientific and historical information about the dinosaur and its discovery to central Queensland visitors.
Striking gabion walls made from local stone create a dynamic relationship between the building and surrounding landscape. The roof is a lightweight, floating orb structure that invites natural daylight and ventilation into the space.
The centrepiece of the tourist attraction is a striking replica of the Muttaburrasaurus, cutting a dramatic profile when the sun sets.
"This incredibly successful structure connects a prehistoric past and the desert landscape to the rural town setting," the jury said. "The Muttaburrasaurus Interpretation Centre adds a layer of community pride to Muttaburra and is an important addition to the Queensland Dinosaur Trail."
The Dinosaur Trail is a tourist attraction linking central Queensland towns that have historical fossil sites.
The same architectural award went to the Waltzing Matilda Centre at Winton last year, and one of the jury members, Cameron Bruhn, the Dean of Architecture at the University of Queensland said western Queensland had one of the best collections of cultural museums in Australia.
As well as the Waltzing Matilda Centre, he cited the Australian Age of Dinosaurs buildings at Winton, plus the Tree of Knowledge and the Globe Information Centre at Barcaldine.
"Every town wants to be on the map and they're using architecture as a way of doing it, and giving tourism a future," he said.
"The Muttaburrasaurus centre was built using low-tech farm-sense architecture.
"It has an ancient landscape metaphor and it plays with geometry - we'd call it land art," he said.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
