Lyons has overcome competition from almost 40 other architects and designers to be appointed project lead for the New Student Precinct project at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus.
Encompassing nine buildings, the precinct will bring together the University’s student unions, academic services, and the Institute for Indigenous Development, Murrup Barak for the first time; significantly reshaping and revitalising the landscape and built environment of the site.
Head of University Services Paul Duldig said the job of designing the $229 million precinct was a highly coveted role that attracted nationwide and global submissions.
Melbourne School of Design Chair of Architectural Design and member of the selection panel Professor Donald Bates says Lyons’ design response as being well-aligned with the University’s aspirations for the project.
“Lyons fulfils the ambitious goals of the New Student Precinct project to produce a lasting legacy in the new centre for the campus,” he says.
Lyons will serve as principal architects, leading a team of specialists and designers including Koning Eizenberg Architects from the USA (led by UoM alumni Julie Eizenberg and Hank Koning), with Aspect Studios, Breathe Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway Architects, Glas Urban and Architects EAT.
Carey Lyon, Director of Lyons, describes the project as the perfect opportunity to leverage his practice’s ability to combine the talents of high-performing architects and landscape designers.
“By designing the project through a collaborative process, we hope to provide students with a really diverse experience — including the provision of multiple study spaces from which to choose, through to a variety of food experiences and varied spaces for creative endeavours,” he says.
As all contributors to Lyons’ design team are alumni of the University of Melbourne, they should be well placed to understand the perspectives and insights offered by current students, who are to be considered co-creators of the new space.
