(COUNTRY) Bidjigal
The forms of the new St George Sailing Club – long, parallel, gabled extrusions perpendicular to the waterline – are immediately recognizable and familiar. We know these forms from boatsheds and wharves (almost) everywhere. In Sydney, the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf and the wharves of Walsh Bay are definitive examples of the type. Here at Sans Souci, Jon Jacka Architects deliberately draws from these previous buildings for their suitability for program, location and cost efficiency – and their ability to tap into social memory.
Jon Jacka and I arrive to view the project on a regatta day, with 16-foot skiffs rigging up as we pass through the boatshed. The club is heaving with activity. Yet, we agree that even if it were empty, if the skiffs had already set out on the river, the building just looks like a sailing club – “whatever that means,” adds Jacka.
St George Sailing
