Colourful facade brings visitors to coastal QLD gallery

Design+Architecture’s Fig Tree Art Gallery in Yeppoon, QLD, seeks to encapsulate the heritage of the township and its unique siting.

Sat between two fig trees adjacent to the historic Yeppoon post office, the colourful design language is heightened by a series of timber screens. Orange and yellow panels leap out at passers by, concealing a message written in Morse Code.

Yeppoon’s history of communication, pineapples and bathing boxes have been included within the design. The entire external experience is dedicated to allowing people on the street to interact with the frontage, inviting them into the space.

Concrete blocks, EasyLap panels and ColorBond roofing underpin the raw material palette. The new and existing gallery spaces are connected to the old post office by an interactive passageway, fusing new and old together.

The galley is accessed through a ramp that spans the diameter of the building, with the depth of the ramp mitigates direct sunlight, with two skylights allowing for light to permeate the space. The internal spaces are left intentionally minimalist, with white painted walls allowing for the art to take centre stage, with dimmable track lighting and directional spotlights also installed within the spaces.

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