NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

NAME OF THE PROJECT

The Waterfront Pavilion – Australian National Maritime Museum

LOCATION
Sydney, Australia

Maritime Museum
Location

DATE DESIGNED/PLANNED
At the start of 2014, the Australian National Maritime Museum announced that it would build
a pavilion to showcase exhibits related to the Royal Australian Navy.
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ABHISHEK AJAY PANCHAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROJECT

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DATE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED

The pavilion, which is located near the museum's naval vessels, was launched on 8 November
2015 under the name "Action Stations".

SCALE- BUILT UP AREA AND TOTAL SITE AREA

Total site area is 500 meter sq.

ARCHITECTS
FJMT Studio

CLIENT
Royal Australian Navy

CONTEXT
Anchored to the South Wharf of Sydney’s Darling Harbor, The Australian National Maritime
Museum's Waterfront Pavilion was built to mark the centenary of World War I and
commemorate 100 years of service by the Royal Australian Navy.

The design seeks to bring the narratives of war to life and significantly enliven the visitor’s
relationship with the vessels, waterfront and broader museum precinct. The articulated facade
of the pavilion compliments the scale, form, color of the vessels and the broader marine
environment. The Waterfront Pavilion offers a dynamic, immersive experience and is an
elegant, integrated addition to the harbor precinct. The pavilion is further shaped by the
primary forms of the adjacent vessels themselves, the conning tower of the submarine and the
bridge of the destroyer creating central formal distortions. These distortions are then
transformed into large glazed portals that frame lateral views onto the surrounding vessels.

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SITE PLAN
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PROJECT BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

In June 1985, the federal government announced the establishment of a national museum
focusing on Australia's maritime history and the nation's ongoing involvement and
dependence on the sea. Proposals for the creation of such a museum had been under
consideration over the preceding years. After lobbying by New South Wales Premier Neville
Wran, the decision was made to situate the new museum at Darling Harbor, and construct it
as part of the area's redevelopment. The building of the ANMM was seen by both the federal
and New South Wales State governments as an important feature of the redevelopment, as it
would be a major drawcard, and help fuel the commercial success of the precinct.

The museum building was designed by Philip Cox, Richardson Taylor & Partners. The roof
was shaped to invoke the image of billowing sails: the corrugated metal roof stands over 25
meters (82 ft.) tall on the west side, but drops significantly on the east.

DESIGN BRIEF AND REQUIREMENTS

1. Uncovered roof terrace

OPEN TO SKY
TERRACE

ROOF PLAN

1. Uncovered roof terrace

2. Stairs

OPEN TO SKY OPEN TO SKY

TERRACE TERRACE

ROOF TERRACE PLAN

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1. ICE immersive experience

2. ICE control room
3. Entry stair
4. Multiuse space & vessel
EXHIBITION
access
SPACE
5. East terrace (external)

LEVEL 1 PLAN

EXHIBITION SPACE IS DESIGNED SURROUNDING THE CENTRAL LINEAR

CORE ENABLLING LIGHT TO ENTER THE BUILDING &
SIMULTANEOUSLY ESTABLISHING VISUAL CONNECTION WITH THE
SURROUNDING.

1. Ticketing
EXHIBITION SPACE
2. Lockers
3. Entry & stair
4. Catering
5. Parents room & amenities
6. Plant & services
7. East terrace stair

GROUND FLOOR PLAN 4

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ABHISHEK AJAY PANCHAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROJECT

NORTH ELEVATION WEST ELEVATION
 NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

SITE ANALYSIS
2. There is no air-conditioning in the main multi-use and exhibition space where
visitors enter and exit the vessels. The exhibition space has a series of louvres and
openings for natural ventilation and very large overhead fans which help to moderate
the movement of air in the space without impacting on the space.

3. The narrow but high exhibition space assists with air movement in the space as the
height draws the warm air up. There is a concealed opening at the high point of the
building which allows the air to exhaust. The natural ventilation systems
incorporated creates for the building a space that is more connected to its natural
environment and connection to the vessels.

4. The façade panels do most of the work in insulating the building due to their
performance and composition of both an external and internal skin with an insulating
layer between. The geometry of the exterior panels also has an impact.

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GENESIS OF PROJECT
The project brief for The Waterfront Pavilion was to provide to the public a destination
which is an integral part of the Museum collection that serves to enliven the waterfront,
improve visitor experience and access to the vessels HMAS Vampire and HMAS Onslow.
Most critically however the Pavilion will provide a place where the past, present and future
stories of the men, women and ships of the Royal Australia Navy can be experienced and
celebrated.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
The project began with the idea of a suspended ‘tube’ that could ‘hover’ over the wharf,
creating space at the wharf level to allow visitors to experience the edge where the vessels
meet the water. The hovering sense of the ‘tube’ is further reinforced appearing to float in
the air between the vessels floating in the water.

This tube was then shaped in relation the natural movement or flow of the visitors from the
dockside up into the building, that swelled with this arrival, and then through portals and
gangways onto the vessels. This flow of visitors shaped the form, in a sense, like the
viscosity of water profiles the form of the vessels or like the form of the wake they leave
behind.

The pavilion is further shaped by the primary forms of the adjacent vessels themselves, the
conning tower of the submarine, and the bridge of the destroyer creating central formal
distortions. These distortions are then transformed into large glazed portals that frame lateral
views onto the vessels.

Inspired by boat building form and construction, the articulated facade also compliments the
adjacent vessels and the broader marine
environment, achieved using

incremental and repetitive

adjustments of the external skin.
VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION SPACES
USER/USE ANALYSIS
Andrew Nimmo, Australia

The museum is more of a precinct than a building – stretching from Pyrmont Bridge to Pyrmont
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Bay, it straddles an unrestricted dockside promenade that allows the public to wander and view,
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at least from land, some of the best and most authentic parts of the collection: the vessels moored
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in Darling Harbor. Over time this part of the exhibition has grown, as vessels are taken out
of active service and donated.

PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE AND UNIQUENESS

The pavilion interacts with the water and context in a way that the original museum is
not able to. There is the gentle motion of floating boats and tidal action, the rippled
reflections of water on hull – it all reminds us that boats really only make sense when
they are in water.

LEARNINGS
From the above project I found that the building does not attempt to compete with the navy
boats – it is a holding place and entry, a theatrical interlude before the real attractions. It is
the modesty of this building, with a few clear, simple but effective moves, that makes it
successful.

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