Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the project, however, is not what has been built, but what is being restored. Over the past six years, more than 30,000 seeds and cuttings have been collected from the site and surrounding area, propagated off-site and carefully nurtured. As construction closed in on completion, those plants were returned to their original home. “The old Silver Sands site was this sort of scorched earth with imported grass, a built-in pool and a huge footprint over the site. We’ve taken seeds and cuttings from the original native vegetation, grown them over time and are now reintroducing them to the site. The intention is that, over time, the landscape will reclaim its dominance. The buildings might feel prominent now, but eventually they will recede into what becomes almost an urban forest.”
experience where you retreat away and it’s sort of a soulful moment. This new development is actually slightly different. Located in the middle of town, there’s no restaurant on site, so people have to immerse themselves in the village, and it really is all about experiencing a high-end holiday, but still being able to have that peace and tranquillity and privacy at the end of the day.” As the project finally edged to completion, there was a sense of anticipation, and perhaps a touch of relief, after years of planning, setbacks and persistence. There have been delays, many of them tied to the very elements that make the development unique. Bespoke materials, custom finishes and a commitment to doing things properly have all extended timelines. But those same factors are what define the end result. “We had a few glitches and delays that held us up, as originally we were planning being ready to open around Easter. It is quite emotional, when you look at them now, they have evolved so far. They’ve gone from being a little box drawn on the back of a napkin in a restaurant, to seeing them rising at the end of Burgess Street. It’s one of those moments where you stop and realise that it’s actually happening.”
THE OLD SILVER SANDS
That long-term view is central to the project’s identity. Sea Stacks Bicheno is not designed to be static. It is intended to evolve, to soften and to integrate more deeply with its surroundings as the years pass. The design itself draws on the Danish cube house movement, a concept centred on creating a sense of village within a built environment. At Bicheno, that translates into a collection of individual structures connected by shared pathways, with landscaping playing an increasingly dominant role. “The buildings are quite polarising,” says Sue. “They are buildings that are going to make you stop, and you’re either going to love them or you’re probably going to have a very different opinion on them. “The idea is that over time, as the vegetation grows and fills in, the experience will change. The buildings will feel less like individual structures and more like part of a connected environment, almost disappearing into the landscape.
“Sea Stacks at Denison is a very private, personal
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Tasmanian Hospitality Review August/September Edition
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