The Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre, designed by TERROIR, was honored with the Regional Prize at the 2022 Victorian Architecture Awards. Puffing Billy Railway, renowned as one of the world's most popular heritage steam railways, has been operating as a tourist attraction since 1955, with its line opening in 1900 to serve the local community.

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With a recent surge in popularity, Puffing Billy faced capacity issues on the first half of the line, while the second half remained largely unexplored by visitors. To address this bottleneck, a new visitor center was proposed at Lakeside Station, strategically located at the midpoint of the railway line. Lakeside Station offers stunning views of Emerald Lake Park, formerly the largest plant nursery in the Southern Hemisphere, and is surrounded by native bushland. This unique location provided an opportunity to create a contemporary and functional center that pays homage to the region's natural and historical heritage.

Rather than building a new standalone attraction, the challenge for this project was to enhance the existing iconic Puffing Billy Railway by introducing new dimensions and experiences that seamlessly integrate with its established qualities. The design approach focused on accentuating the authentic sights, smells, and sounds of the railway, immersing visitors in its distinctive ambiance. Additionally, the design responded thoughtfully to the two distinct landscape contexts surrounding the center: the native bushland behind the building and the European park landscape that it overlooks.

The visitor center serves as a gateway to multiple dimensions of the site, skillfully bridging the gap between the contrasting landscapes. It achieves this by embracing the concept of the railway "platform" and extending it through the new building, maintaining a strong connection to the existing Lakeside Station. The complex programmatic and operational requirements are organized along this platform, mirroring the railway journey with periodic switches and turns. The linear arrangement ensures simplicity, legibility, and accessibility for the diverse range of visitors on the site. An elongated internal circulation space runs parallel to the programmatic functions, providing uninterrupted views of the tracks and employing a timber finish inspired by the trestle bridges integral to the Puffing Billy experience. This design strategy fosters both physical and psycho-spatial connections to different places throughout the site.

From an interpretive perspective, visitors transition from the expansive immersive landscape to a more focused exploration of the world of Puffing Billy, delving into the natural environment, the trains, and the people associated with the railway. The building's cladding resembles the signature black steam locomotives, blending harmoniously into the shadows of the native bushland. A continuous window trackside and occasional pleat-like openings offer glimpses into the interior. The building acts as a silhouette backdrop, firmly rooted in its surroundings, allowing the true hero of the experience—the Puffing Billy Railway—to take center stage.

The Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre exemplifies the successful integration of contemporary design with the existing heritage and natural landscape, creating a seamless and captivating experience for visitors.

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