From its inception, Saffire was imagined as an iconic project to redefine tourism in Tasmania.
The location, when we inherited it, was scarred from its previous use as a disused caravan park so the project became as much about repairing the site and interpreting its unique qualities as it was about creating a tourist destination.. With this in mind, we shaped the main building as the end point of a continuing journey, in which views of the Hazards are shielded and revealed and finally presented inside the building as a panoramic overview of Great Oyster Bay.
The resort is also organic in its relationship to the site. Its form evokes memories of coastal land forms, dunes, waves or sea creatures. The journey moves from the monumental to the more intimate personal spaces of the suites.
These are small waves or creatures, arranged on the site as if marking the tidal shoreline. The passage between the units is a metaphor for a beach, the suites moored like small craft run up onto the sand.
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