Tjulyuru Cultural and Civic Centre

After a decade of planning and extensive community consultation, the Centre has been designed to provide the Ngaanyatjarra people with an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen their culture and encourage its understanding amongst the wider national and international community.

While the Centre will house the local government for the region and provide many community service facilities, its most noteworthy features are those designed to showcase the culture of the Ngaanyatjarra people. The centre provides an exhibition space and performance venue and offers an opportunity for visitors to the region to engage Ngaanyatjarra people in their own environment.

The Centre's purpose built art gallery is designed to exhibit the extensive Warburton Collection, which has received recognition on a National level through inclusion in the Australian Heritage Commission Art Award in 1998. Offering visitors a rare insight into the complexities of the Ngaanyatjarra world, this is the most substantial collection of Aboriginal art under the direct ownership and control of Aboriginal people.

Insideout Architects were commissioned to design the Centre in 1998 and the practice set up in Warburton for the duration of the design, documentations and construction stages. The architects were also responsible for the interior design and project management.

The building architecture is an innovative design that properly grounds the development in the context of the Central Desert. Local red earth, shrubs and grasses form an organic corridor through the site. Natural elements continue inside with red sand and creek pebble in the polished concrete floors. The vivid colours of the Ngaanyatjarra landscape are referenced in feature walls and furnishings, while locally made art-glass panels and sculpture adorn and complete the interior.

The architectural form of the building and its extention into surrounding places through the landscape has many references to Ngaanyatjarra culture and society. Also, there are plenty of doors connecting the inside to Meeting Areathe outside. Consideration of the development process of the Centre was an important as its physical construction; the site itself is of cultural significance. Construction in one of the most remote places in Australia was not easy. A mix of Ngaanyatjarra people and outside contractors were employed and a considerable number of logistic hurdles and cultural issues had to be met. The project was completed within budget and nine weeks early.

As Tjulyuru develops it is hoped that tourism and art based ventures will form the core of the regions economic development, further strengthen local employment and help Ngaanyatajrra culture.