Rocky Hill Memorial Museum by Crone finds meaning through form and materiality
Mark Syke

Rocky Hill Memorial Museum by Crone finds meaning through form and materiality

23 Mar 2023  •  News  •  By Allie Shiell

Completed in 1925 as a tribute to the men and women of Goulburn, Australia, who served during World War 1, the Rocky Hill Memorial Tower by local Architect E.C. Manfred and Sons is a significant landmark in its community. The new museum extension by Crone extends the legacy of the tower as a physical and material interpretation of the site’s character, conforming to the hill in a contemporary yet sympathetic way. 

photo_credit Mark Syke
Mark Syke

With a footprint that replicates the simple cruciform structure of the original Memorial tower’s base, the extension includes new exhibition space to house a growing collection of locally acquired Australian war artifacts.

photo_credit Mark Syke
Mark Syke

Complementing and strengthening the identity of the adjacent caretaker’s cottage, which was completed in 1935 by Manfred and Sons and now also functions as a museum, the exterior of the extension incorporates bronze mirrored cladding to reflect the unique surrounding landscape while signifying the space as a place of reflection.

photo_credit Mark Syke
Mark Syke

The mirrored finish of the bronze panels lends a gold shimmer to the building at sunrise and sundown. Subtle undulations carry through to the interior spaces, where exhibition walls provide rhythm and relief between dominant concrete blade walls.

photo_credit Mark Syke
Mark Syke

Front-of-house and back-of-house spaces are blurred with low-tech curtain divisions between spaces, thus allowing volunteers to move freely between the two wings of the museum or undertake archiving and conversation within the museum environment. Alongside this, a simple material palette and interior provide a minimalist backdrop, bringing prominence to the collection of artifacts and information. 

photo_credit Mark Syke
Mark Syke

Finally, the new building location minimizes any further damage to the iconic existing landscape by working on sections of the site previously  disturbed by existing infrastructure and historic site excavation for raw materials during the construction of the memorial tower.