Hassell has worked with the University of the Sunshine Coast to master plan the new Moreton Bay campus as well as design the architecture, interiors and landscape for its foundation building.
The idea was to create the best experience for all kinds of students in disciplines and degrees ranging from mechatronics, environmental science, health, engineering, law and business.
Hassell Principal and Education & Science sector leader, Mark Roehrs says that the USC Moreton Bay campus was “…designed to include a 460-seat auditorium, lecture theatre and larger learning spaces to easily accommodate community events and gatherings when it’s not programmed for university learning.”
“We wanted this to be a place where students, staff, and locals genuinely feel great being in every day,” Roehrs says.
Accordingly, this is a high-tech, smart campus is equipped with extensive hands-on learning spaces for nursing, science and engineering, including a 64-person nursing simulation suite.
There’s also a 120-seat ‘Wet Super Lab’ for sciences, an equal-sized ‘Dry Super Lab’ for engineering, and specialist areas for robotics, thermodynamics, advanced manufacturing, and civil engineering together with a mechanical workshop and a maker space.
The core of the campus design is the ‘Rise’ – a central, stepped, two-storey amphitheatre that encourages collaboration and incidental meetings throughout the day alongside the 24-hour library.
The Rise is complemented by a diverse range of informal learning settings, from intimate booths to project spaces to brainstorming whiteboard settings.
To increase the building’s sustainable design, Hassell designed the foundation building to operate efficiently, through the use of solar power, deep overhanging roofs and sun shading.
Image: Supplied
