Chamfered corners, green roof and circle motifs soften impact of new North Bondi Amenities

Chamfered corners, green roof and circle motifs soften impact of new North Bondi Amenities

North Bondi Amenities (NBA) reimagines the template of the boxy, double-brick public bathroom that is, frankly, unbefitting of our signature Australian beaches.

North Bondi Amenities (NBA) reimagines the template of the boxy, double-brick public bathroom that is, frankly, unbefitting of our signature Australian beaches. It has been designed by Sam Crawford Architects (SCA) to complement its surrounding landscape, accommodate the thronging summer crowds of Bondi Beach and to withstand the sting of the coastal elements year-round.

The project included the addition of a new amenity building, containing change rooms, toilets, showers and accessible amenity, and the reskinning of an adjoining Sydney Water Pump Station.

The new addition is located on a nature strip surrounded by the North Bondi surf club to the east, the beach to the south, an outdoor gym to the west and the busy main street to the north. It is triangular in shape and modest in scale, featuring rounded and chamfered corners, a vertically-aligned hardwood skin, and a multi-depth green roof, all of which intend to soften its impact on the landscape.

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Ground Plan

Because of its central location, the building needed to cater to a large and diverse number of users with different needs. This included providing outdoor showers and basins for beach goers, inside change rooms for gym users, toilets for the general public, and weather protection and seating for those catching the bus on Campbell Parade.

A need for increased changing and toilet facilities within the building saw SCA place a communal concrete basin outside, servicing both male and female toilet users and freeing up space inside the building.

The basin sits under one of two oversized concrete overhangs that form part of the roof as it extends from the building. Seating for the Campbell Street bus stop is located under the second overhang and is well-lit by lights at night.

The public sit under shelter as they wait for the bus on Campbell Street

A large circular cut out in the roof is a feature and is softened by Pigface succulents draping over from the green roof. The circle motif and rounded edges of the building’s exterior walls, eaves and flat roof continues inside the building where rounded benches and circular skylights soften the impact of the robust and hardwearing surfaces.

Left: Graphic designers Deuce Design designed the statutory signage
Right: The circular sky lights are by Atlite and provide natural light into the interiors

Another major feature of the building is its 90sqm green roof, installed by green roof contractor Fytogreen. It has varied depths from 150mm to 260mm to create localised contours, and contains a total of 702 coastal sedges, grasses and ground covers.

Sitting immediately adjacent to the multi-storey North Bondi Surf Club and across the road from a number of apartment blocks meant that SCA had to consider the roof of the NBA as a fifth façade and make it as attractive as the exterior walls of the building.

The building’s modulated timber skin is slotted to allow fresh air to penetrate the building

The colour scheme of NBA was the result of collaboration with colour consultant, Sonia van de Haar of Lymesmith. Drawing on inspiration from the public nature of the space, Sonia utilised the Australian Standard (AS2700 “Colour Standards for General Purposes”) colour palette and introduced institutional paint colours to create a datum line in the building that speaks to the bold presence of the horizon line, playing with a sense of proportion at the human scale. Graphic designers Deuce Design brought a playful element to statutory signage that complimented the small scale of the space.

East elevation