RMIT Swanston Academic Building
“We worked hard to create the idea of a whole campus experience in a single building. Something with the same intensity, the critical mass, the industry of students and staff, the sense of discovery and sociability, and with all of these connected to the engine of the city of which RMIT is so much a part – and we think we got pretty close.’”
Carey Lyon, Director of Lyons
The RMIT Swanston Academic Building (SAB) is a campus that is not only deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, but born from it. Taking design inspiration both conceptually and literally from its surrounding urban environment, the SAB is a microcosm of the city. Inside, laneway-like corridors, student ‘portals’ and terraces translate Melbourne’s grain into a legible vertical campus. The unique vertical campus mimics the diversity of Melbourne’s CBD – it is vibrant and engaging with an abundance of flexible spaces for students to explore. The building places students at the centre of its design and has become an international benchmark for research into new learning spaces. Shared learning spaces are informed by new models of learning and designed to encourage collaboration and cross pollination of ideas. Across discursive theatres, case-study rooms and collaborative studios, flat-floor, tech-ready layouts support team-based learning as readily as lectures. Completed in 2012, the building’s design is progressive, built to meet the needs of students today and well into the future.
Education & Learning
Carey Lyon
RMIT University
Building 80, 445 Swanston St, Melbourne
Located on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people
35,000 square metres
5 star Green Star (Design) rating using the Education Tool Version 1
Complete, 2012
On completion, the Swanston Academic Building (SAB) set a benchmark for the design of learning and teaching spaces. A variety of different formal learning spaces are provided at each level of the building. On each level a mix of case-theatres, project rooms and informal nooks supports different teaching rhythms through the day. Varying in student capacity, all spaces are designed to be centered around the student, promoting interconnection and collaborative work. With students at the forefront of the design, teaching and learning spaces encourage staff to adopt a mentor role. Ranging from 360 seat theatres to conversational student spaces, the teaching and learning spaces reflect the diversity of the city to meet the long-term needs of the University. Teaching and learning spaces extend throughout the eleven levels of the building, with these accessed via three different circulation systems – lifts, escalators and multiple open stairs that encourage student use as their primary means of vertical circulation. Those escalators stitch together a sequence of student ‘portals’, encouraging dwell and informal study rather than point-to-point travel.
The Swanston Academic Building (SAB) puts students at the centre of its design. Our design brings the diversity of the city deeply into its conception to create a microcosm of the city for students to engage with. Flexible and diverse spaces are prioritised to make the SAB an attractive place for students to spend their time. Street-facing lounges and retail edges pull city life into the building without diluting academic focus.An ecosystem of vertical student spaces provides opportunities for informal learning and social activities. Spaces located at each level of the building known as ‘portals’ provide the reprieve and flexibility that open, green spaces would have in a typical university campus. Aligned to specific city views, these portals double as intuitive wayfinding beacons within the tower. Externally, the design is characterized by faceted geometry resembling scales, with colours derived from the mapping of the surrounding cityscape. The design extends the building’s relationship with the city, creating an object that is at once operating as an autonomous campus building and embedded in the city’s grid. The building is designed to be highly porous and open to contribute to the inner city typology that characterizes Melbourne. The street level acts as a series of arcades or laneways, allowing students to walk through the building, or access cafes and learning spaces. Sheltered entries and operable edges keep these passages active year-round, supporting everyday activation.
Conveying the personality of the university, providing views to outside and offering a range of flexible spaces for learning and socialising are key aspects to the campus experience. These factors are achieved through a vertical stacking of informal, open student spaces, each connected to a central circulation system of escalators and stairs. That stacked sequence acts as the building’s ‘main street’, with study nooks placed at bends and landings to amplify chance encounters. A gradient of different learning spaces on each level of the building reflect the diversity of education and are designed to meet the long-term needs of the university. Distinctive triangular windows shape the interior experience by providing curated views down to the streets, up to the sky and straight out to neighbouring buildings. The triangulated reveals diffuse glare and frame recognisable landmarks, aiding intuitive wayfinding. This window arrangement also optimizes the environmental performance of the façade system. The design of SAB’s city campus came with a unique set of opportunities for sustainability strategies. Strategies range from the campus scale, through to building elements, down to individual student spaces, resulting in a 5 star Greenstar (Design) rating. Façade shading, daylight-led planning and efficient services are coupled so environmental performance is experienced as comfort, not constraint.
“The building is like a magnet for students, who seek out and use the many informal spaces that the architects have designed for them, and my own Business staff feel like the building creates a true ‘academic community’.”
Prof Ian Palmer, Pro Vice-Chancellor Business & Vice-President, RMIT University
Carey Lyon, Co-Founders, Practice Executive
View Carey's Profile
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