Dorrigo Rainforest Centre

Dorrigo National Park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests ecosystem which stretches along a 4000km escarpment in NSW and Queensland. The Park is one of the oldest landscapes on the planet, a remnant of the Gondwana supercontinent 180 million years ago. The forest contains plant families that date to over 300 million years old, is the birthplace of all the world’s songbirds (yes, you read that correctly) and today contains some trees over 600 years old.

The building sits at the edge of the escarpment, carefully positioned and formed to minimise disturbance not only to the rainforest environment but avoiding the flights paths of raptors and other birds documented on site. The associated Skywalk supports a choreography of movement through the landscape that reveals its many wonders, while also being carefully aligned to been aligned to minimise its footprint and disturbance to the rainforest environment generally, a design task guided by detailed surveys of tree health, threatened species habitat and educational values.

The project will form a critical piece of visitor and educational infrastructure for NSW Parks and Wildlife Service and which comes at a critical time as the impacts of climate change on this profoundly important place are starting to emerge. We hope this project inspires those who visit to support action that preserves this ancient landscape.