The Design
A site overlooking Canberra has been provided by the Government of Australia and formally accepted by the Government of Timor-Leste. The site is on the corner of Beale Crescent, Deakin, next to the Bosnian Embassy and opposite the Brunei Embassy. The Building Contract was signed with Grocon Pty.Ltd. on 21 April 2008.
[See press release here]
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Norman Day, the architect for the Embassy describes the design:
“The Embassy buildings, as a group, grow out of their soil, which reflects on the spiritual nature of life in Timor Leste and its deeper connections with nature.
Organic materials, the sweep of a deep terra cotta roof, a swing bridge that barely scrapes the ground, the ‘Timor Leste’ gardens and straightforward construction techniques, all echo the mystical simplicity of life in Timor Leste.
This could be a model for the meeting houses and community halls of the nation. It’s form reflects traditions of pole houses and twine-fixings, the organisation of space using pavilions that together make up the Embassy collective, suggests a traditional village or ‘succo’.
Our intention was to create a building of the people of Timor Leste, but located far away from their homeland. By instilling it with the spirit of its people, we believe any geographical distance is erased. Perhaps that remoteness between locations can be bridged and translated into the real world of diplomacy, politics, community service, education and administration - for which this building functions."
Embassy Timor Leste : Canberra Architect’s Statement
Norman Day + Associates, Architects + Planners
Page 3
Unlike most embassies, the hall will be available to the visiting public and display the history and culture of the people. It will become an icon on the Embassy circuit in Canberra and the focus of ongoing relations between Australia and Timor-Leste.
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