Big Orange, Agricultural monument in Berri, Australia.
Big Orange is a 15-metre-high, 12-metre-diameter sphere near Berri, built of fibreglass panels over a steel frame and weighing about 85 tonnes. A footbridge leads into four levels: a function room, a souvenir shop and café, a 360-degree mural of local scenery, and a lookout over the surrounding orchards.
The Big Orange was conceived by Bronte Coombe, Vern Chubb and David Marshall, who invested $145,000 in the venture in the mid-1970s, and it opened on 14 January 1980. Sold in 2002 to the training agency RivSkills, it closed two years later citing financial losses and management issues. After failed auctions and ownership changes, it has stood closed since 2004 and abandoned since 2012.
The Big Orange was conceived by Bronte Coombe, Vern Chubb and David Marshall, who invested $145,000 in the venture in the mid-1970s. When it opened on 14 January 1980 it was claimed to be the largest sphere in the southern hemisphere, and Coombe noted it was the only big thing of its time with a business run inside it. A footbridge leads into the structure.
The Big Orange stands beside the Sturt Highway near Berri, reached by a footbridge from the roadside. It has been closed since 2004 and abandoned since 2012, so the interior levels, cafe and lookout are not open to visitors; the structure is seen from outside.
The Big Orange was designed by Adelaide architect John Twopenny and built by Hoffmann Engineering from fibreglass panels over a steel frame, weighing about 85 tonnes. A footbridge leads into the four-level interior, where the third floor held a 360-degree mural of the local scenery and the fourth a lookout over the surrounding orchards.
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