Baca Architects has designed a marine observatory called the Australian Underwater Discovery Centre that will mimic a whale surfacing off the coast of Geographe Bay.
The centre, which will be built two kilometres out at sea beside Busselton Jetty in Western Australia, will be positioned partially underwater and feature a large window overlooking the ocean floor.
It has been developed by Baca Architects to replace an existing observatory off of the jetty that is currently struggling to meet visitor demand. The goal is for it to become the world's largest centre of its kind, open for both the public and scientists to observe the marine habitats of Geographe Bay.
Above: the centre will be built in the water beside the Busselton Jetty. Top image: it is intended to evoke a whale's head "The current underwater visitor experience at the end of the two-kilometre-long pier has been greatly successful but has reached its capacity," explained the studio's director, Richard Coutts.
"The operator sought to have a new cultural building that would be able to cope with higher visitor numbers and provide a larger underwater viewing window, quite literally, on the ocean floor," he told Dezeen.
"The brief set out the client's spatial needs and a requirement to deliver something iconic which will draw tourists in," added Coutts. "The goal is to promote the education, awareness and monitoring of the jetty's immediate marine environment and the wider environs o...