North Coast Port Macquarie Observatory Redevelopment

Contact point

Picture of Trish Ferreira
Trish Ferreira Regional Director 0400 697 145

Background

The Port Macquarie Observatory provides educational services to the community, including astronomical exhibitions, demonstrations and interactive displays.

In 2021, Port Macquarie Astronomical Association was awarded $4.8 m through the jointly funded Australian and NSW Government Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund to upgrade the Port Macquarie Observatory, located in Rotary Park on the Port Macquarie foreshore.

The upgrade included demolition of the existing brown brick building built by the Rotary Club in the 1950’s and construction of a state-of-the-art Astronomy and Science Centre.

Our role

NSW Public Works prepared a design brief and went to tender in late 2022, and like many other projects at that time, the tenders received were significantly greater than the budget. An application for additional funding was made, and the team was successful in receiving an additional $900K, allowing us to award a D&C contract to Lipman in April 2023.

Completing the detailed design was tricky, as the client was a committee of volunteers with a vast range of ideas about what the Centre should look like, but the D&C approach allowed them to commence works on site whilst finalising the design details.

Key facts

  • Winner of Public Buildings category award at the 2025 MBA Northern Rivers Awards – submitted by the construction contractor, Lipman.
  • The only dome supplier in Australia custom designed and constructed the 6.9-metre-wide dome in a warehouse in Queensland, then dismantled and freighted to Port Macquarie, and re-constructed on the ground and craned into place
  • The façade is lined with self-cleaning terracotta tiles imported from Germany, chosen to withstand the salty environment beside the ocean

Outcomes

The new Centre opened in September 2024.  It is almost four times the size of the original observatory, with a new 6.9-metre-wide dome housing the centre’s new telescope that will provide astronomers with uninterrupted views of the southern sky.

The new Centre also includes an exhibition area, auditorium and workshop with interactive displays, a meeting room, kitchen, outdoor plaza and landscaping.

The centre will provide a boost to the visitor economy by hosting events like the Winter Solstice and increasing the number of open nights and accommodating more than 20,000 visitors a year.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Jenny McAllister, said

Bushfire recovery takes time, and supporting projects like the transformation of the Port Macquarie Observatory is an important step to helping rebuild the community.”

Images courtesy of Seen and Lipman. Video courtesy of Lipman.