Dent Island evokes the rugged, stony character and resilience of a Mediterranean island. With grand sweeping vistas over Dent Passage and beyond to distant islands, it is a breathtaking place. The intent of the master planning and building design is to highlight the drama of the setting and ‘capture’ the sweeping panorama. A limited materials palette of rugged stonework, visually anchoring the structures to the site, counterpointed with distinctive, sprightly roof lines of steel-framed ‘butterflies’. The parallel analogy of ‘caves’ and ‘trees’ evokes a timeless model for the structures.
The typology evolves from the historic origins of settlements: animal paths become walking trails, which in turn become vehicle trails; responsive in the first stages to topography for ease of movement across the sloping terrain. As in a field of ancient ruins, the buildings appear at various stages or states of (dis)integration within the landscape setting; suggestive of a sense of continuity over time and place.