University demonstrates the benefits of bricks and mortar

University demonstrates the benefits of bricks and mortarThe scaffolding is up as new gateway buildings at the University of Sydney take shape, generating more than 0 construction jobs and injecting more than $187 million into the local economy.The three new education buildings – a six-storey Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences building, an eight-storey science research and teaching facility and a five-storey administration building at the University’s Camperdown campus – promise to create state-of-the-art research facilities at the university.”The University has already spent $1.6 billion on our campus improvements, and these buildings represent part of a further $700 million which is in the pipeline,” says Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr Michael Spence. According to Greg Robinson, the university’s director of campus infrastructure, the $2.3 billion investment has been “strategically designed” to help it meet “new and evolving challenges”.The development aims to enhance staff collaboration, while also releasing space for future affordable student accommodation, higher degree research and visiting academic offices, and ceremonial events.”The work of a modern university requires collaboration across disciplines so that ideas among staff and students can spark collaboration and more productive outcomes,” Robinson explains.”Creating spaces where this can occur naturally has been a key tenet of the University’s building strategy.”The Faculty of Arts and Social Science building will feature a research centre, lecture theatre, general teaching spaces, office and meeting rooms and a rooftop terrace. Located on the campus’ northern Parramatta Road boundary, the building will consolidate staff and students from the Faculty’s School of Economics and the School of Social and Political Sciences.Teaching and research staff from the discipline of Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LEES) will come together in the new LEES1 Building, designed by HDR Rice Daubney. A unique layout will preserve the mature figs on one boundary and deliver around 10,000 sqm of flexible research and teaching space.The F23 Administration Building, designed by Grimshaw Architects, will bring together co-workers currently situated across the university. Large floor plates will allow for open plan spaces to improve productivity and departmental interaction.The new buildings are expected to be completed by the end of 2018.”By encouraging cross and inter-disciplinary interaction – and embracing the world’s best practice in teaching, laboratory and workplace design – we’re creating a sustainable teaching hub in the heart of the University,” Robinson concludes.