February 2, 2011
An art museum that disappears three levels underground into a sandstone rock face in Hobart has been completed by leading construction company, Hansen Yuncken.
The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), which cuts into the cliffs alongside the Derwent River north of Hobart, features 6,000 square metres of gallery space and has been described as a ‘subversive adult Disneyland’.
Hansen Yuncken Executive Chairman, Peter Kennedy, said MONA had been a unique and exciting challenge for the company’s Tasmanian project team.
“This building project really has become a work of art in itself - from the exterior concrete and Corten steel panels to the spiral staircase constructed around a glass lift leading you down to three subterranean levels devoid of natural light,” Mr Kennedy said.
“More than 35,000 cubic metres of material, primarily sandstone, was removed from the site, and the leftover sandstone wall has become a living part of the artwork. The excavation and underpinning alone took more than 10 months to complete.
“Even the air-conditioning is innovative, with a displacement air delivery system through walls that ‘float’ above the floor.
“It is a huge credit to our Tasmanian office to accept such a challenging project and then succeed in bringing the extraordinary design to life.”
The Museum of Old and New Art features:
- 2100 waffle forms to create the roof structure;
- an MC Escher-like Corten stairway made up of 13 prefabricated flights, each weighing approximately 2.5 tonnes;
- a 1400 square metres of sandstone wall up to 14 metres high exposed to view; and
- recycled Jarrah timber floors from a West Australian woolshed.
One section of the roof has been designed to be removable to allow bulky artworks to be lifted into the gallery by crane.
The building itself is 140 metres in length and 30 metres wide, and includes 6,000 cubic metres of concrete. Seventy support piers have been bored into the sandstone cliff face.
Hansen Yuncken engaged local contractors wherever possible, including for much of the steel fabrication, and laying of tiles and flagstones.
Hansen Yuncken, established in 1918, is Australia’s largest private commercial construction contractor. The company employs more than 800 people around Australia with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Newcastle, Orange and Shepparton/Albury. Hansen Yuncken is the recipient of the 2010 ANZ/BRW Private Business of the Year Award, and National MBA Commercial Builder of the Year Award.
Further information: Please contact Peter Kennedy, Executive Chairman on 08 8229 7300
Issued by Hughes Public Relations: Please contact Mark Williams on 0401 147 558
