NUspace

• Sector

  Education & Learning

• Key Lyons contacts

  James Wilson

• Collaborators

  EJE Architecture

• Client

  University of Newcastle

• Location

  Hunter St & Auckland St, Newcastle NSW 2300

• Traditional land

  Located on the traditional lands of the Awabakal people

• Size

  14,000 square metres

• Sustainability

  5 star Greenstar As Built

• Project status

  Complete, 2017

A university for the community

Our design for NUspace is not only an exemplar of a globally connected learning centre, but a catalyst for the regeneration of the physical and cultural heart of Newcastle. To achieve this the building strikes a balance between accommodating and complementing its surrounding precinct and creating a microcosm of activity within its campus. Permeable features invite the community into the building while pedestrian linkages and laneways attract a vibrant and creative environment. Arcades cut through the ground plane to tie the campus into surrounding streets and lanes, extending the public realm rather than enclosing it. Maintaining prominent views to the historic Town Hall was a key part of this civic minded strategy. By protecting views to the Town Hall we deliberately facilitate a corner meeting space with diagonal sitelines through the building. The public nature of the immediate civic precinct introduces exciting possibilities for the way people can engage with its spaces, streets and lanes. At its core, the design creates a seamless public realm that connects the city in all directions. That diagonal view sets up the internal ‘gathering’ space, aligning informal seating with the clocktower and turning outlook into orientation.

Establishing an identity for a new city campus

The NUspace campus gives The University of Newcastle an important civic identity. In contrast to the natural bush setting of the Callaghan Campus, our design for NUspace is vibrant and urban while maintaining organic qualities, like sandstone that are familiar to The University of Newcastle. The 9 level vertical campus houses new generation learning spaces, informal social and study seating, accommodation for staff and vibrant public spaces. These materials carry from the public canopy into teaching floors, creating a consistent material language from street to seminar. The project represents a great gathering space in the heart of the city, bringing together city life within a vibrant campus while creating spaces for students and academics to collaborate. The concept of an open university campus is reinforced internally by vertical interconnectivity through the building via escalators, lifts and open stairs. Escalators stitch a sequence of student ‘portals’ and collaborative rooms, encouraging dwell rather than point-to-point travel across the vertical campus. The lower level urban form references and aligns with the adjacent historical buildings, while with an ‘eroded’ canopy of sandstone, the external form is extruded inside in a warm acoustic plywood material. At the corner, the eroded canopy forms an outdoor room for gatherings and events, keeping the edge lively throughout the day.

Flexible spaces for new models of learning

NUspace was designed to facilitate a specific student experience, one that facilitates flexible learning and provides comfort and safety. We designed learning spaces to accommodate a ‘flipped’ classroom experience – a mode of learning that encourages students to review materials online and attend workshops to apply and analyze information. Flat-floor rooms with integrated AV and writable surfaces are planned for quick re-set between workshop and seminar, directly supporting the flipped model. Large flexible working spaces encourage peer to peer learning while light filled, functional and engaging spaces create environments where students want to spend their time. The diverse and flexible spaces such as the three-level learning ‘landscape’ at the ground plane, with cafes, social seating, learning spaces and integrated student ‘concierge’ services, allow students to self-organise and create their own cohort communities. The integrated student services hub anchors this landscape so academic help sits on the natural path between study spaces and the café. Overhanging the learning terraces in the gathering space, floats the aboriginal Awabakal totem of the eagle-hawk, symbolically protecting the students below. Comfortable furnishing with untethered technology and views over Newcastle can be experienced from all internal spaces, heightening student’s connection to the city. The ceiling artwork doubles as a meeting marker—students rendezvous ‘under the eagle-hawk’ before moving to classes above—embedding wayfinding in culture.