St Helena Tunnel

The natural and agricultural landscape of the Northern Rivers Region is abstracted in the tunnel lining interior of St Helena Tunnel.  Macadamia plantations are seen through this landscape. The Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland.

The St Helena Tunnel is a twin-tube road tunnel that forms part of the Pacific Highway near Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The 434-metre-long tunnel under St Helena Hill is located near Ewingsdale.  This arched concrete structure is a major landscape intervention at the entrance to Byron Bay, designed to protect ground water.

Colin designed the exit and safety tunnel system as a feature element in the tunnel interior. The abstracted landscape is one of Australia’s longest and largest paintings and certainly Colin’s biggest work, Studio Colin Polwarth was retained as an urban design administrator for the project in 2012 after Colin had resigned from Conybeare Morrison as an Associate Director. The design of the interior was part of the tender submission to RTA, now TfNSW RMS. 

Colin wanted the pattern rhythms of the landscape to continue in an abstracted form for users of the tunnel, as a method of integrating the exterior and interior. The painting intentionally reminds one of the rhythms of the local area. The project won multiple awards.

Sprayed acrylic paint with templates on primer on concrete