Design of a luxurious sweeping arch resort in Australia

Melbourne-based architecture firm Wood Marsh has built a five-star luxury resort with sweeping,

arch-shaped volume in Victoria, Australia.

Design Features

The building is located at the gateway to the Great Ocean Road and the Torquay Building of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV).

It was named RACV Torquay, and is the club’s first five-star luxury resort.

Design shape

The building is located overlooking the existing golf course,

to enjoy the eastern view of the beaches of Torquay, Jan Juc,

the building extends and rises from the slightly undulating ground as if emanating from its soft contours.

In this way, the project provides a standout without spoiling the landscape,

its shape is dominated by a sweeping five-storey arc of 92 guest rooms, above the curved lower levels of the public facilities.

It also contains restaurants, conference rooms, an indoor pool, gym, day spa and a new golf club.

Depending on the coastal condition,

the extensive use of earth and armored timber was deliberately chosen for weather and fading,

eventually making the structure a visible remnant of the sandy coast.

When the building is installed on site, the lower levels appear as rammed earth walls,

which were locally acquired and fabricated on site in one of the largest projects of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

By contrast, Ironbark’s accommodation levels are covered in fine detail to reduce visible mass.

The interior reflects programmatic needs, with clearly defined public and private spaces,

often oriented to sea views.

Accommodations are accessed via curved corridors,

lit by deep stained-glass windows perforated in the hermetic northwest facing façade.

A simple color palette with a strong focus on natural materials is strictly applied throughout the building.

Design of a luxurious sweeping arch resort in Australia

The hotel rooms are also large in size,

many of which are connected and open to the sea yet retain individual privacy with alternating balconies.

The exterior palette flows within the building, using subtly contrasting materials with more subtle finishes.

In support of the goal of creating a minimum footprint,

the project uses strict implementation of sustainable principles and techniques.

As a set of arches moving across the original landscape,

RACV Torquay minimizes impact on the surrounding environment.

At the same time, the overall benefits of this project, especially for the local community,

are many and varied.

In addition to providing state-of-the-art facilities and contributions to the local economy through the influx of visitors,

the introduction of a well-made architectural model to the area should not be underestimated.

Wood Marsh

The firm was founded by Roger Wood and Randall Marsh,

both born in Melbourne in the 1950s, with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

After working at practices such as Williams Pugh and Daryl Jackson, the two founded their own clinic, BiltModern, along with Del Jones Evans in 1983.

Jones Evans left the company in 1987, from which Wood Marsh Architects . spun

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