Tarrawarra Abbey | Baldasso Cortese Architects

Designed by Baldasso Cortese Architects, Tarrawarra Abbey is a Cistercian Monastery set on 400 hectares of grazing land at Yarra Glen in Victoria’s beautiful Yarra Valley, 60 kilometers North-East of Melbourne.
The devastating bushfires of Black Saturday, on the 7th of February 2009, saw searing grass fire, driven by fierce winds, blaze across the property killing 40 head of beef and destroying several hectares of pasture. The fire passed dangerously close to buildings in which several members of Tarrawarra abbey’s community sought shelter.

photography by © Michael Gazzola

Following a review of the fires, a brief was developed to build a secure fire shelter where the abbey’s monks and other members of the farm and community could take refuge in the event of future fires. The result is a concrete bunker growing out of a gentle slope, sited in close proximity to some of the farms’ residential buildings. The building is made of boarded in-situ concrete, slightly folded and bent as it grows out of the slope. Formwork using Oregon boards laid horizontally was used to obtain an organic finish to the grey color of the concrete, which is expected to soften as it weathers and ages.

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A sloped planted green roof makes the building all but invisible from certain aspects while protruding copper shrouds with fire screens add to a sense of movement in the building. These will also soften as they weather.
Orientated to the north, the building rises 4.5 meters and it is here that a series of concrete blades, also cast in-situ, have been placed to focus views over a valley and distant views. The blades have also been designed to temper the harshness of the northern sun as it shifts across the building through the course of the day.
Designed to double as a multi-purpose center for the abbey’s monks the interior of the building contains a communal gathering space, a tailor’s workroom, gymnasium, and an archive store.

photograpy by © Sherman Tan

Project Info:
Architect: Baldasso Cortese Architects
Location: Yarra Glen, Victoria, Australia
Area: 237 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Peter Clarke
Project Name: Tarrawarra Abbey