Complexity of the Campus Set to Expand
23 October 2004
In the months and years ahead the University Campus at Sippy
Downs is going to witness some major transformations that will
benefit a great many people both within and outside the
University.
We are now in a position to respond to students' requests for
more leisure facilities. For the start of next year we will likely
have developed some new outdoor courts next to the University Club
and within easy reach of all the major buildings. There will be
almost $100,000 worth of facilities available for all students for
the start of the 2005 academic year.
At present we are also scoping an indoor sporting stadium in
partnership with Education Queensland and Maroochy Shire Council.
There has been pressure for years for us to build such a facility
at a cost of millions of dollars, but we have had too little money,
and government grants have eluded us - the Olympic athletics track
was our last success in that arena - and what a dramatic difference
that has made for the Coast's athletes.
A sports stadium built on a partnership has a lot of advantages
because there is then little down time in usage. University and
school students would likely be the heaviest users on many weekdays
but community use would likely predominate in evenings and
weekends.
Indoor courts, a health centre, a gym, a research facility, a
base for doctor and physiotherapist and other health professionals,
is the kind of facility that we are currently fast-tracking in the
hope that we can build next year, ready for 2006. It will be a
facility designed to appeal to young and old alike and it will be
built on University land to reduce up-front costs, but the whole
community will benefit.
The details and the time line and the scale have still to be
finalised but there is now a clear light at the end of what has
been a frustratingly long tunnel.
Last week, University Council also approved the appointment of
two teams of architects to progress the next two major building
projects, ready for occupation in 2006.
A major building near the Library will be undertaken by
Architectus, whose team leaders are well-known Sunshine Coast
architects, Lindsay and Kerry Clare. Their knowledge of the Campus
is extensive and they have the sensitivity and skill to execute the
design of a building that will complement the iconic library,
provide much needed staff rooms, further lecture and tutorial space
and add in a number of ways to the heart of the Campus, where the
new 'piazza' outside the new ICT building is really the focal
point. I'm sure it will be an exciting addition to the Campus.
The Hassell group of architects was appointed to design the new
Science building for a 2006 opening. The group has extensive
experience in designing Science facilities of world-class standard
and through Mark Roehrs, has a close knowledge of the campus as he
was, with Ken Down, involved in a different partnership to complete
the Stage 3 Science building. There will be significant growth in
Science and new laboratories are needed in this and a subsequent
stage, all before 2008.
As well as concentrating on external forms and spaces, we also
want to pay more attention than ever to dealing with temperature
extremes without resorting to full air-conditioning, except in
specialist spaces. There are now some sophisticated systems we are
studying.
The Campus, therefore, is about to become an even more
attractive, complex and interesting place for students, staff and
the community.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast