Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters

Project Details

Envirotecture is the lead designer of the new Irukandji Shark & Ray Encounters facility at Anna Bay NSW, where people literally come face to face with sharks and rays. You can watch from the pool edge, but better yet is to wade in or snorkel with these amazing creatures.

Confronting? Relax – these are not the ‘bitey’ species, the sharks are commonly known as ‘gummy sharks’ and the rays have no dangerous barbs.

The purpose of this award winning eco-tourist facility is to help visitors understand the importance of apex predators in healthy ecosystems. Why is it named for a fatally dangerous jellyfish? Because when marine ecosystems collapse, jellyfish take over, and no one wants that!

Being built over 4 major stages, it replaces an ageing inferior facility that had been operating at nearby Bob’s Farm. The managers – marine biologist Ryan Pereira, and his zoologist partner Lia – moved the whole operation to stage 1 of the new site on Nelson Bay Rd, Anna Bay, during the lockdowns of 2021, which involved sharks in tanks on trucks, and turtles on laps in the front seat, and all sorts of logistical intricacies.

Stage 2 is the tropical shark lagoon, which opened as an open pool early in 2022, and its enclosure completed mid year. The enclosure is a large timber portal frame (clear span) structure, fabricated in ‘Glulam’ laminated timber with stainless steel brackets and bolts, all specified to cope with the salty marine environment that is recreated in the building. The columns in the portal frames are nearly 900mm wide, by 130mm thick – it’s quite a structure! It also has an operable roof of 6 large panels, to allow for ventilation, natural sunlight and free heating in summer. Because real live coral is grown in the pool, natural unfiltered sunlight is required. The roof may be opened on fine winter days, but will be closed at night to reduce heat loss.

We have worked with Hyne Timber, X-Lam, and our consulting engineers on integrating the structural design with cost effective architectural detailing. We worked with Ronstan (yes, the yacht people) on the sliding roof mechanism, having proved the principle on a couple of previous sliding PV awning projects (https://www.envirotecture.com.au/moving-roof-2/ and https://www.envirotecture.com.au/hillside-hideaway/). At Irukandji the panels will be manually operated, to reduce capital cost, complexity, and reduce long term maintenance due to the marine air environment.

The whole facility and all of its operations are powered by on-site rooftop solar. It’s a small power station in its own right! Water is also recycled as much as possible, while still requiring the ‘importing’ of several thousand litres of fresh sea water every day, from the pristine waters of Port Stephens.

Stages 3 and 4 will follow in 2023 and 2024, being a new reception building at the front of the site, and an even larger enclosed lagoon adjoining the tropical lagoon building.

Envirotecture is pleased to be supporting Sea Shelter by providing design and documentation services to them for the new hospital, where turtles, sharks and other sick and injured marine animals are nursed back to health before being released back into the wild.

Sea Shelter is a marine animal rescue and rehabilitation charity that also operates on the site under the auspices of an independent board, also started by Ryan and Lia Pereira and some of their staff and friends. Envirotecture is proud to be a long term supporter of Sea Shelter, and you can be too: https://seashelter.org

See TV’s Dr Harry’s visit to Irukandji and Sea Shelter: https://www.bhg.com.au/irukandji-shark-ray-encounters?category=tv