| Co-Design with Local Aboriginal Corporation and Artist Involvement
The Project made a significant effort to comprehensively engage with the local Aboriginal community to collaborate on the Aboriginal Interpretation for the design. For Unanderra this has meant seeking to understand, in conversation with local people, some of the themes, narratives and/or organising principles that can enrich the design of the station landscape and buildings. This process was ongoing, as the challenges of covid lockdown made it difficult, if not impossible, to meet in person.
Unanderra is within the Dharawal Nation and its traditional custodians are the Wodi Wodi – Saltwater People. Because of its location between the steep Illawarra escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, the coastal plain supports many diverse vegetation communities as well as fish, crustacea and seabirds, and is an abundant and rich source of food and materials.
The Aboriginal experience of the landscape is one of Custodianship for the Dharawal people. Their language group expands from the inland rivers and creeks that flow down to escarpment and to coastline of the Illawarra. The connection of the Dharawal People to place stems from the landscape and further defines their kindship ties to subgroupings defined by the characteristics of the water in the streams.
- Sweet-water – western inland streams
- Bitter-water – brackish waters of the lakes and lagoons
- Salt-water – lands by the sea
The Wodi Wodi Dharawal are Saltwater people and are defined by their relationship to the Illawarra escarpment and out into the sea. Mount Kembla, a dominant feature on the Skyline is called “jum-bullah” or “Djembla” which means wallaby and is culturally significant site. Unanderra is an Aboriginal word meaning “the meeting place of creeks”, referring to the junction between Charcoal and Allans Creek (Wollongong Library).
Even though covid restrictions made the preferred method of engagement more difficult, the Project adapted a methodology for engagement for culturally appropriate and respectful consultation through:
- Research and identify traditional custodians and knowledge holders
- Connect with custodians in a collaborative way to explore culturally appropriate outcomes
- Sensitive cultural mapping beyond the immediate site to explore broader cultural themes
- Indigenous design approach – stories of country translated into the built environment
- Co-design with traditional knowledge holders and seek permission to bring their narratives into built form
- Ensure traditional knowledge holders are recognised, both financially and credited for their design involvement.
Using this process, Wodi Wodi born architect Craig Kerslake has been working with the team, including bringing some of the learnings gathered from the Aboriginal Interpretation work for Towradgi Station, which is also on Wodi Wodi Country.
We met with Paul Knight, chair of the Illawarra Aboriginal Land Council, to introduce the project and request guidance around opportunities to embed Designing with Country into the design. Paul has worked closely with GANSW, including running information and training sessions on Designing with Country for practitioners. Our learnings from these conversations were:
– The landscape is a primary opportunity to represent Country, in several ways:
- The design itself, acknowledging that this is a ‘place’ not just a ‘through route’ to the station. We therefore started to consider how the design could encourage people to see and appreciate the natural environment
- The use of local endemic species – a palette that can be added to or modified in consultation with local Knowledge Holders, as part of a co-design process
- Sourcing plants and contracting the landscape delivery through Indigenous-owned businesses. This is important to provide employment opportunities and genuinely involve the local Aboriginal community as participants in the station upgrade and its ongoing use.
– While there are many stories, it is important to consider living culture, not just historical narratives, or themes. To that end, we have taken a step back from representing a particular theme or narrative at Unanderra. Instead, we are keen to build on the ‘being in place’ thinking, and highlight the experience of being in the landscape, viewing natural landmarks, and orienting paths of travel around key cultural landscape features.
– There are places and spaces within the station that these experiences can be allowed for and encouraged. These are:
- The east side of the station, where there is the most space for landscape treatment,
- The new overbridge stair towers draw reference from the adjacent escarpment with a modern interpretation of the sandstone cliff faces,
- Creating and focusing new elevated views as a point of reference towards Mount Kembla, which is significant culturally and geographically.
The Project’s design includes the following concepts / ideas that relate to Country:
- A soft landscape that acknowledges the deep history of the place through planting,
- An arrival / departure experience that encourages a ‘gentle journey’ with places to rest, meet, talk and enjoy the (restored) natural setting,
- Strong acknowledgement of the “Two River Story” provided by Coomaditchie in paving or low retaining garden bed walls, communicating that this is Dharawal Country,
- The creation of a small lookout area at the western end of the footbridge from which to see and locate the viewer in relation to Mt Kembla,
The team explored how planting, materials, textures and colours can help enhance a sense of place and of the station being part of and contributing to the life and landscape of Unanderra. Additional conversations with Knowledge Holders were held, as they were able to speak with us, to discuss other thoughts and suggestions for the project.
Coomaditichie was then engaged to produce the draft artworks which were then incorporated into the design to transform the paths leading to the station into the Two Rivers Story. The artwork provided became the direct expression of traditional cultural symbols and story-telling and are a strong and authentic representation of the Dharawal culture.
  
Biophilic Design
Another concept / story which arose was the concept at Unanderra station has developed as a response to the physical site conditions. The station design is inspired by the nearby natural forms of Illawarra Escarpment to connect people with a sense of place as they arrive and depart.
  
The final built form included angular canopies, angular mouldings and glazing on the lift shafts, and curved and coloured pavements to reflect the design and codesign principles. Maximising natural light, airflow and increasing the available green space through design allowed for a stronger connection back to the natural environment.
Interpretation of historic elements
The Project identified an opportunity to provide an educational, interpretation sign for two historic items located at Towradgi Station.
1.The Station Master’s Residence
Located next to station itself is the historic Station Master’s Residence. What makes the Station Master’s Residence interesting is that it is not only a government railway building, but it was always intended to be a home. Since its construction in 1887 and up until the late 1990s, the Unanderra Station Master’s Residence was occupied by a Station Master and in most cases their family as well.
Station Masters were often upstanding members of the local community at Unanderra, being critical caretakers of the local economy. Without an operational railway station, many of Unanderra’s local business such as the coke factory and collieries, tanneries, farms and dairies would have struggled to get their products to market in Port Kembla, Wollongong and Sydney.
2.Thornley Level Frame Type-45
The Thornley Type-45 Lever Frame (seen below) was used at Unanderra Station during a time of significant industrial growth for the suburb and surrounding areas, which resulted in Good Sidings being built. Most of the local growth was attributed to steel production at the nearby steelworks, which remains to this day. The Thornley Level was placed on one of these goods sidings and was used to operate the points along the siding to ensure rail cars could safely be moved from one track to another without derailing. The frame was manually operated, which was common for these kinds of levers.
Degnan went above and beyond the Project’s scope to restore the Thornley Level and to design and install an interpretive sign describing the significance of the Lever in the historical context of Unanderra Station and the surrounding Yard, as well as detailing the important history of the Station Master’s Residence.
    
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