Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Centre (LROFC) Inc. is seeking Expressions of Interest to identify a head contractor to deliver the new Australian Opal Centre (AOC) in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia.

The new Australian Opal Centre (AOC) will be a museum and multipurpose facility constructed at the 3 Mile opal field near the town of Lightning Ridge, NSW. The AOC is being developed as the world's leading provider of opal related knowledge, certification, education, training, scientific research, industry development, heritage arts, travel and culture. The new AOC will preserve, display and research the world's most comprehensive and valuable public collection of Australian opal, opalised fossils and the remarkable, diverse natural and cultural heritage of the Australian opal fields. The collection is of national significance.

The new AOC building is being designed by architects Glenn Murcutt and Wendy Lewin (Murcutt + Lewin) as an energy-efficient, partly embedded structure insulated by the thermal mass of the earth. The building as proposed is "off-grid" and autonomous in relation to services including power/energy, water collection, treatment and recycling, and other waste systems. The generation of energy includes but is not limited to a photovoltaic system; ventilation and temperature control will be achieved primarily using natural and passive ventilation systems.
The new facility will provide permanent exhibitions, education and learning facilities, flexible spaces for conferences, community events and temporary exhibitions, a cinema, gallery spaces, a high-security opal vault for sale and certification of high-value opal gemstones, collection storage and curatorial facilities, a research library, cafe and commercial kitchen, gift shop, storage / offices, an opal cutting workshop space, maintenance and plant areas, research laboratory and gardens.