A striking new viewing platform featuring a distinctive curved tubular design has officially opened at the Loch Ard Gorge Blowhole in Port Campbell National Park, located in Victoria's southwest region. The innovative structure, named Poombeeyt Koontapool—meaning "breath of the whale" in the Keerray Wooroong language—draws inspiration from the story of Koontapool, the Southern Right Whale, according to the Victorian government.
The project was led by Denton Corker Marshall (DCM) in collaboration with landscape design firm McGregor Coxall and engineering company Arup. The design emerged from extensive collaboration with traditional owners of the Eastern Maar Country, including prominent artist Vicki Couzens, who played a crucial role in integrating cultural elements into the structure.
Couzens' integrated artwork embodies the breath of the Southern Right Whale, a creature that holds central importance in Eastern Maar spiritual beliefs. In this cultural context, the natural blowhole is interpreted as the whale's blowhole. Speaking at the lookout's opening ceremony, Couzens reflected on the project's significance: "It's an amazing work that incorporates our cultural songlines and stories with the principles of biomorphic design, which is designing with nature and environment."
The platform's design carefully avoids projecting over the cliff edge, preserving the sanctity of this culturally and environmentally sensitive location, according to DCM's official statement. The lookout successfully integrates storytelling, ecology, and equity of experience, ensuring that all visitors—regardless of physical ability or cultural background—can engage meaningfully with the site.
Neil Bourne, director at DCM and design team leader, expressed pride in the collaborative effort: "We are proud to have led the design team on this remarkable project, in collaboration with the Eastern Maar people, to deliver an outcome that is culturally expressive yet sits comfortably in Country."
Described by the architectural practice as a sculptural insertion into the landscape, the platform curves organically into the surrounding landscape and coastal vegetation with a distinctive shell-like form. The tubular structure is strategically sliced open at both ends, meaning that the view—like the shelter itself—is revealed only as visitors approach the structure.
This thoughtful response to the site is specifically designed to amplify the sensory experience of the blowhole through the natural sound of crashing waves and the movement of sea spray. The design simultaneously evokes imagery of cresting waves, seashells, geological formations, and a breaching whale. Custom seating elements, inspired by whale-like barnacles, provide dedicated spaces for rest and conversation, or "yarning" as it's known in Indigenous culture.
Due to the challenging unstable geology and remote location of the site, the lookout was constructed using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), a lightweight yet durable material. This material choice allowed for precision prefabrication of the lookout in modular sections, which were initially assembled together off-site, then disassembled for transport and finally reassembled into the finished project on-site.
The Poombeeyt Koontapool Lookout represents the third and final intervention funded under the first stage of the comprehensive Shipwreck Coast masterplan, with all three projects designed by DCM. At the famous Twelve Apostles site, the firm's design for a cantilevered lookout, developed in collaboration with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, opened in 2024. In Port Campbell, a new pedestrian bridge over Campbell's Creek, completed in 2020, adopts the principle of "treading lightly" to connect the town with the national park.
According to DCM, the three projects are symbolically linked by the motif of black and white cockatoos. The Poombeeyt Koontapool Lookout adopts a recessive black exterior that contrasts with its light interior. However, Bourne noted that each structure responds in very different ways to the unique environmental and cultural qualities of their respective locations.
This trilogy of projects originated from an invited design competition held in 2018, with concepts shaped by guidance from Parks Victoria following extensive engagement with traditional owners. The design team also served as proponents of the 2015 Shipwreck Coast masterplan—a strategic framework for integrating architecture that honors cultural narratives and ecological integrity across the 28 kilometers of natural coastline and hinterland surrounding the Twelve Apostles.
The Poombeeyt Koontapool Lookout officially opened to the public on Friday, September 12. In the nearby area, construction is currently underway on the Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Center, which is being designed by Grimshaw Architects in partnership with Aspect Studios, further enhancing the region's tourism infrastructure.
