Public Domain | murring centre

The CCI Murring Centre is a centre for both the local South Coast Aboriginal community and visitors, and will be located on land in Comberton Grange, South Nowra. The centre incorporates a series of functions including cafe / coffee shop, small shop for selling cultural arts and crafts, display gallery, conference area, restaurant and outdoor performance.

The building itself is a gateway to the dreamtime, with its design based in the ideas of the creation story and set within a natural billabong setting. The CCI Murring Centre aims to create a local and national identity as a place of cultural interpretation, education and connection for visitors and the indigenous community.

The original design intention stems from the contours of the abalone shell fish. This natural form incorporates the spiritual form of the spiral, symbolising the beginning of life, mother earth and the rainbow serpent. The roofs are centred around the spirals core and has 9 main roof forms, based on the natural form of the spiral. These 9 parts represent the 9 months within the mothers womb.

From this spiral in plan came a positive and negative form – highlighting the indoor / outdoor dichotomy and reinforcing the concept of yin and yang, borrowed from the neighbouring Shoalin temple development. The Yin and Yang Theory also represents the positive and negative energy fields, day and night, male and female, night owl and eagle, etc, creating a relationship between the Chinese Mythology and the Aboriginal Dreamtime.

The use of water within the site flows around the built forms and back into the natural water courses incorporating the idea of the Rainbow Serpent and water dreaming – ‘where all rivers flow thus they return to the place from whence they came’.