Luxury Accommodation at Ayers Rock

Every year, some 400,000 tourists come to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory of Australia. Most of them set out on a bumpy bus journey in the early morning to experience the site at sunrise. The present project is designed to allow some visitors to enjoy this magnificent spectacle under exclusive conditions. Ten kilometres north-west of the rock, 15 luxurious tourist lodgings have been erected along a sand dune, providing protection against the scorching heat. Each of the braced steel-and-glass structures is anchored in the ground and raised roughly 2.5 m above the flowing surface of the sand on eight steel columns. The box-like pavilions are protected by tent roofs consisting of three layers of fabric. All the dwellings possess a large picture window which affords a view of the rock. Only after extensive negotiations with the local Anangu Aboriginals was it possible to realize this development. One important condition was that the buildings could be removed again within a short period. Strict environmental safeguards forbade the use of heavy vehicles or machines in this conservation area. Water and electricity supplies are fed in a service trench along the road from the visit-ors’ centre two kilometres away, while waste water is pumped back to avoid the creation of any unnatural vegetation in the desert. A central service unit located in the row of buildings contains a lounge and dining room for visitors beneath a large double-mast tent roof.