The Brooke St Pier is an innovative new structure. It is both a building and a boat – a floating 4,300 tonne concrete pontoon carrying three floors of lightweight superstructure. It represents a significant step forward in the creation of practical solutions to constructing over the water, and indeed, on the water, as this structure does not need to be connected to the land at all. Like a boat, it is completely self-sufficient and it carries on board all the services and systems it needs to provide a habitable environment. The pier’s superstructure has been kept as light as possible so that its centre of gravity is below the waterline. The pier also rises and falls with the tide, so it is anchored to the seabed with triangulated stretching cables fixed to the pontoon. This project is the purest expression of a wide-ranging collaboration between architects, engineers, builders and extremely passionate clients/operators. Brooke St is a significant step in the ongoing transformation of the old port facilities into an active urban civic precinct, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the evolving life of Hobart’s waterfront. It is simply transformational and groundbreaking.
Architect
Circa Morris Nunn
Consultants
Structural consultant – Richard Lawrence
Mechanical consultant – Cundall
Hydraulic consultant – Gandy and Roberts
Lighting consultant – Point of View
Services consultant – Jim Gandy
Naval architect – Fred Barrett
Interior design – Georgina Freeman
Graphics – Damian Scott
Photographer – Matt Sansom
Contractors
Builder – Fairbrother
Project manager – Sam Tucker
Foreman (Incat site) – Ben Satchell
Foreman (city site) – Justin Pegg