Have you ever wondered how an award winning Resort was developed in the heart of Australia's arid centre?

Ayers Rock Resort was designed by multi-award winning Australian architect Phillip Cox and built to be sympathetic to the landscape. This uniquely designed Resort is no higher than the tallest sand dune so that the low-rise buildings are almost invisible from the dunes far side. The Resort blends quietly with its surroundings without disturbing the fragile ecology of the region.

Aside from the cost of such a development, the construction of a resort in seemingly inhospitable environment of temperature extremes from below freezing in winter to 48�C in summer, with no existing township infrastructure or services such as access to materials, power, water or sewerage, was recognised as an immense task.

The site for Ayers Rock Resort was selected based on a number of criteria; most importantly was its acceptability to the local traditional owners who have inhabited Central Australia for over 22,000 years; and the ability to sustain and manage the environmental soundness of the area without intruding or detracting from the surrounding natural beauty amidst the hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors. Other factors were its proximity to underground water sources and of course, the ability to view the largest monolith in the world - Uluru.

On arrival at Ayers Rock Resort, the award winning property is purposely camouflaged by the gentle flow of sandhills, desert oaks and hardy spinifex. The overall Resort layout is influenced by the natural pattern of landscape and the regions sinuous sand dunes. Centred by a well-vegetated terrain, the main body of the Resort is nestled into the spine of a curved desert dune.

Prior to the development of Ayers Rock Resort, a collection of simple accommodation had grown up haphazardly in the shadow of Uluru, and vehicles and visitors has caused increasing environmental damage to the fragile sand dune lands around the Rock.

To protect this flora and fauna and to allow the land at Uluru to regenerate, the Resort was developed outside the World Heritage National Park boundaries, some 20 kilometres from Uluru and 53 kilometres from Kata Tjuta.

Some particularly unique and outstanding features of Ayers Rock are listed below;

� The Resort buildings have been positioned to shade one another, which is essential to conserve energy in a region where the average daily temperatures range from 20�C up to 40�C. Large glass windows face away from the sun, whilst double roofs and bullnosed verandahs are used to shade guests and external walls. Extensive use of double roofs provide an airspace between the two (convection cooling), while the outer roof deflects the sun's direct rays, thereby reducing air-conditioning demands.

� Another important part of the Resort's low energy system are the immense white sails and fabric roofs which are used prominently throughout the Resort to provide shade and help guide breezes for the comfort of guests. The sails assist as 'natures own' air-conditioners. The membrane fabric of the sails deflect heat and filter out ultra violet radiation. The sails and fabric roofs are made from a white translucent PVC coated polyester which is able to withstand the environmental conditions and are a simple, independent structure with small manageable components which are able to be erected separately. In addition, the 10.8sq.m sails can reduce the air-conditioning demand by up to 40 percent.

� With the sun virtually a permanent fixture, 2,300 roof-top solar heating panels provide approximately 70% of domestic hot water and air-conditioning requirements in the central complex, reducing demands on the Resort's power station.

� The Resort has its own Water Treatment Plant, which can produce over 41,000 litres of drinking water every hour and chilled drinks are guaranteed as the system can provide 135,000kg of ice - enough for event the thirstiest of travellers!.

The water is pumped from underground bores in the nearby Dune Plains Aquifier and then purified for human consumption. A water desalinisation treatment plant has been installed to process the raw bore water to provide an acceptable level of salt content. Although untreated artesian water has an extremely high salt level, it is useful for some irrigation and domestic service. Raw, untreated water is supplied to fire hydrants, toilet cisterns and some garden areas within the Resort, whilst the remainder is treated to lower the salt content.

� A Waste Water Treatment Plant and Reclaimed Water Irrigation System are a major component in Ayers Rock Resort's total conservation system.

The waste water treatment plant and reclaimed water irrigation system play an integral role in the overall total conservation of resources at Ayers Rock Resort. This compact and automated system produces a high quality reclaimed water irrigation system for the Resort. Watering of all gardens and turfed areas is by way of the Resort's "trickle irrigation system". Not only does this provide an excellent source of plant nutrient by significantly reducing the concerns inherent in the traditional treatment and discharge of sewerage, it has the significant benefit of conserving the most critical resource, bore water.

Swimming pools, brilliant green lawns and landscaping comprising of more than 120,000 Australian native plants have been made possible in this environment by this complex water treatment plant and recycling system.

� While all wastewater is recycled and reused for irrigation purposes, other waste is less easy to deal with. It is imperative both for the protection of the natural environment and the Resort's own environmental integrity that waste disposal is effectively handled.

With no access to waste disposal in the area, waste products generated by the Resort and the local township needs to freighted out of the resort for disposal and recycling in Adelaide or Alice Springs.

� All waste oil from the Resort's restaurants and staff kitchens is freighted to Alice Springs for safe disposal

� A glass crusher has been installed at the resort to crush all glass waste product before it is freighted to Adelaide for recycling

� Guests are asked to be aware of the need for recycling and are provided with recycling bins and material throughout the Resort

� All Hotel room amenities are "Environmentally Friendly" products - both in terms of packaging and production. Although this does not have direct impact on the Resort's business success, it does highlight the Resort's awareness of the environment.

� With the high turnover and large number of guests that visit the Resort, an astounding 6,000 - 10,000 pieces of laundry can pass through the Resort's Central Laundry on a daily basis. Not only is this a huge expense, but also a continual threat to the environment, due to excessive use of water and detergents. Guest are given the choice of having towels laundered each day or less frequently to reduce water and detergent use. All water from the laundry is recycled and used for irrigation.

Recycling and waste management are just some of the issues faced by any operation in a remote location such as Ayers Rock Resort. When taken into account that on average there are about 2,500 people living at the Resort at any one time, the logistics of operating such an entity in an environmentally friendly manner become quite remarkable.

For further information please contact:

Mandy Dwyer, Corporate Public Relations Manager, Voyages Hotels & Resorts Ph: (02) 9339 1000, Mobile: 0419 490 521, Fax: (02) 9339 1010