The University of Western Australia, Business School by Woods Bagot

Too often, university architecture focuses on classrooms and lecture halls, while neglecting the human factor. Students arrive, attend lectures, then leave again. Or they visit the library, collect some books, and go elsewhere to study. Study groups meet off-campus. They rush from one end of the campus to the other, and then leave when class is over. In this sense, there is a big difference between “being at university” and being “at” university.

The solution is to transform the campus into an enticing, livable space, where both learning and leisure facilities are close at hand. Somewhere that makes students want to come for the lectures, and stay behind afterwards.Woods Bagot’s new Business School has remedied the risk of an academic diaspora.

The new 9500 m2 world-class Business School provides a single location for various facilities that were formerly scattered throughout the Crawly Campus (and even off-site). Formal and informal IT enabled learning environments, a café, service centres, study carrels and syndicate rooms coalesce here, enabling a seamless learning process, and extended access hours.

Furthermore, Woods Bagot were able to develop a new academic workspace configuration that increases interaction between academics, their PhD students, and the support staff, while still holding onto a 10% space saving compared to the original brief. Collaboration is key here: the academics benefit from a collective, collegiate work environment; while students are encouraged to hold their study sessions on-campus in shared social spaces and breakout areas. The design philosophy evolved from an original intention to group student functions together at the centre of the building, around a three-storey central gathering and organising space. Stairways and a high level of transparency within the space aid and encourage orientation, wayfinding, and most importantly, maximum usage.

And while the new Business School does make a major contribution to the southern entrance of UWA’s Crawley Campus, it does not interfere or clash with the original sandstone Winthrop buildings, which are situated at the northern end of the grounds. Even though it represents a new era in the history of the University, bringing it into the 21st Century in terms of architecture and contemporary workplace strategy, the architectural expression takes inspiration from more traditional, grounded sources.

Woods Bagot naturally derived architectural inspiration from the history of Western Australia’s economy: themes of agriculture and the resources industry. Colours and textures are drawn from aerial photographs of the Goldfields, Wheatbelt, Pilbara, Kimberley and

Southwest – especially in the key learning environments: lecture theatres, case study rooms, and tutorial rooms. These “knowledge vessels” comprise cylindrical elements, which serve to contrast the rectilinear form of the building itself; and the variety of cladding materials helps to define them as sculptural forms as well as functional elements.

The positioning of the new Business School – at the southern end of the Campus – completes the architectural sequence of UWA, without overconsumption of space or resources. Chilled beam climate control instead of traditional air conditioning reduce floorto-floor heights, saving $1 million from the cost of the façade, which was reinvested to pay for the energy-saving system. But more importantly, this ensures temperature-controlled conditions favourable to creativity, productivity, and extended attendance.

The building itself is also orientated to optimise natural heating and cooling throughout the year, and its structure is designed to ensure maximum natural light capture, with an intelligent daylighting compensation lighting system to take over the reigns (when it rains). All the walls have data projection capabilities which further optimise the use of space, and there is access to wireless networks throughout both the formal and informal learning and breakout spaces.

Woods Bagot have made an architectural statement that naturally encourages a pedagogical shift in the way the Business School is operated and utilised. And with a campus like this, the students will never want to leave.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Adrian Lambert

1. The new Business School makes a major contribution to the southern entrance of UWA’s Crawley Campus, bringing it into the 21st Century. 2. The architecture is, in part, inspired by Western Australia’s traditional agricultural and mining industries. 3. Spacious, stylish interior design make the campus a place that students want to stay, even after all the work is done. 4. The emphasis is on collaboration, a collegiate work environment, and on-campus study sessions, all of which are encouraged through open meeting spaces and breakout areas .5. The theme of transparency.