Designed by Cox Richardson, Longitude 131°, Ayers Rock, Australia is a luxury, eco-sensitive and romantic, self-contained boutique hotel two kilometers to the south-west of Ayers Rock Resort. The 15 hotel rooms and central facility, Longitude 131° offers immersion in the wilderness of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, complete with 5 star luxury and private views of the sun rising and setting over Uluru (Ayers Rock).

This award-winning luxury wilderness camp in Australia’s Red Center has achieved new heights in eco-tourism the world over. Longitude 131° is a deluxe camping experience like no other and set atop an isolated sand dune close to the border of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Each room is roofed in three layers of fabric. The outer layer is a fly sheet in the traditional sense, providing shade and a majority of weather protection, and shaped to evoke little dunes. Below it are two layers forming a sealed cavity providing thermal and acoustic insulation. The rooms are a simple box plan, with a fully glazed south-facing wall making the most of the expansive view. Sliding glass panels open half the facade to embrace the external environment. The walls diverge slightly to open the view still further. En suite facilities are located to the rear with windows to provide glimpses back to the dune as a reminder of the location.

Environmental protection of the dune flora and fauna during both construction and occupation led to important design decisions. For example, elevating the rooms on steel piles leaves the sand untouched below and allows the rooms to be removed or relocated. In addition, the rooms are accessed on foot via a compacted earth path on the low side of the dune to avoid damaging the dune crest.