Newcastle Ocean Baths

Name Newcastle Ocean Baths
Client City of Newcastle
Location Newcastle, NSW
Year 2023 - Ongoing

Newcastle Ocean Baths are a local icon, set on the wave-cut rock platform that defines the city’s coastline. Treasured by the community, the bathing pavilion has supported year-round swimming and coastal life for more than a century. TZG’s design for its redevelopment includes upgrades to the pavilion buildings, heritage facade and surrounding public domain.

The redevelopment takes an approach of minimal physical intervention, respecting the pavilion’s heritage while improving its functionality and safety. The design draws on the existing materials, proportions and construction techniques to complement the inter-war stripped classical facade and its Art Deco decorative elements.

The proposal returns the building’s footprint closer to its original configuration while retaining its formal symmetry. This reduced footprint also helps limit exposure to climate risk, as part of a design that responds to coastal inundation and predicted sea level rise.

The renewed Newcastle Ocean Baths will provide a more accessible and inclusive facility, welcoming all visitors while retaining the character valued by generations of swimmers. The project looks to the next hundred years, supporting the Baths’ continuing place at the centre of Newcastle’s coastal life.

Collaborators

TZG Heritage, TZG Signage, TCL.

Consultants

Bluecoast Consulting, Credwell, De Witt Consulting, Hill & Blume, Northrop, The Mack Group, AMAC.

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St Luke’s Grammar School Senior Campus

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Campbell House Private Office