
National Museum Café, Canberra, by Ashton Raggatt McDougall
Iconic cars, planes, tractors and tanks take up a lot of gallery space, and Canberra's National Museum, built in 2001, had run out of places to park them. An increasing number of its rare vehicles were being mothballed and left in storage, instead of finding a home in the Ashton Raggatt McDougall-designed space. Former National Museum of Australia director Andrew Sayers started to eye the large entry hall, which was being used as a café. Original architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall were re-engaged to add an annexe for the café and restaurant spaces, freeing up exhibition space and unfying the Cuiseum café and Axis restaurant areas. The $3-million, 200-seat café is shaped like a toy puzzle, continuing architect Howard Raggat's original theme of the gallery as a puzzle that fits together the disparate cultures that form the Australian nation. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide diners with stunning views of Lake Burley Griffin, while in the entry hall, rarities such as British-made single-engined Percival Gull monoplane have been wheeled into place. Photography: John Gollings