In 1995, the hydroelectric power plant on the shores of this Tasmanian lake went dark for the final time. It’s remained silent for 20 years since — until this year, when it re-opened with a radically different business model: a hotel.
Picture: Stuart Gibson
It turns out that hydroelectric power has a long legacy in Tasmania — back in the 1930s, the Australian government invested heavily in building the infrastructure to supply power using a series of dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations, like the one that used to sit inside these two buildings on Lake St Clair, a protected wilderness area in the heart of Tasmania. The building at the end of a 244m dock once housed the turbines, while a house on the shore was used to run it.
After the enormous turbines inside the pump house went silent in 1995, the former hydroelectric plant was abandoned — its Art Deco splendor rotting away alongside the lake. After a developer was granted the right to redevelop the two decaying, heritage-protected buildings a few years ago, the job of renovating the spaces fell to Cumulus Studio, a Tasmanian architecture firm.
Cumulus’ designers left the flaking facades of the 80-year-old plant buildings alone, while the insiders were carefully gutted — a choice the architects say was intended to preserve just a little bit of the site’s history:
Only minimal work has been done to the exterior of the buildings. This is a deliberate response to maintain the high heritage value of the existing buildings and to emphasise the contrast between the new interiors and the exterior — their distressed condition a testament to the harsh environment in which they are located.
Pictures: Stuart Gibson, Adam Gibson
The interiors were restored and eventually turned into modern hotel rooms, complete with bathrooms, fireplaces and other amenities. Today, it’s a resort called Pumphouse Point, and for a few hundred bucks a night, you can sleep at the end of the dock too.
Pictures: Cumulus Studio, by Adam Gibson
Picture: Sharyn Cairns
Picture: Sharyn Cairns