For Broken Hill in far west NSW, traditional Country of the Wilyakali people, the Line of Lode project will be both transformational and transitional as Australia’s oldest mining city prepares for life after mining.
This Crown Lands project is the exciting first stage in an overall strategic vision for the Line of Lode precinct, conceived by AJ+C in 2015 for the NSW government. Its key objectives are to expand the much loved, pre-existing Broken Earth Cafe building for recreation, education and tourism.
AJ+C’s redesign of the cafe adds a full commercial kitchen, increased dining areas, shop and storage areas with a complete interior reconfiguration. Critically, the current lack of an arrival experience will be addressed with a new landscaped forecourt entry. Completed in 2001 by final-year architecture students from the University of SA, the existing cafe is locally iconic in both its location and expression, so any additional building mass will be respectful to that. The Line of Lode itself is a deposit of waste material some 7.5km long and 1.6km deep from mining activities dating back to 1886.
Image: @architectsajc, Wikimedia Commons, Google Maps
