ThomsonAdsett

Rural Engineering Building

Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor

RURAL ENGINEERING BUILDING

ThomsonAdsett

ARCHITECTS
ThomsonAdsett

AREA
2366.0 m²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Alicia Taylor

CATEGORY
University, Adaptive Reuse

COST
$14.3M

LOCATION
Bathurst, Australia

CERTIFICATION
Bathurst City Council

BUILDING CERTIFIER/ACCESS/ DDA CONSULTANT
McKenzie Group Consulting

MANUFACTURERS
Cosentino, Austral Bricks, Autex, Colorbond, Corian® Design, DuPont, Dulux, Laminex, Lysaght, Atika, Decor, Sumsung Staron

BUILDING CERTIFIER
Mckenzie Group

TOWN PLANNER
JBA

ACCESS CONSULTANT
McKenzie Group

YEAR
2016

PROJECT MANAGER
Savills Project Management

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Wilde & Woollard

STRUCTURAL/CIVIL ENGINEERS
MPN Consulting

CONSULTANT
JHA Consulting Engineers

ENVIRONMENTAL
JBA

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
Joss Constructions

Text description provided by architect.

ThomsonAdsett has designed a new Engineering Building for Charles Sturt University, with views of Bathurst’s iconic Mount Panorama race circuit.

Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor
Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor

The building accommodates the regional university’s unique new degree, which is designed to leave students equipped with both engineering and business skills.

ThomsonAdsett’s design meets both needs, by providing a pitching space for business activity and maker studio, which embraces the ‘Maker Movement’ – a trend where discarded or broken goods are reimagined and marketed.

Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor
Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor

The building’s spatial diversity supports entrepreneurial thinking and the development of high-calibre engineers for employers.

ThomsonAdsett developed a ‘Honeycomb of Learning’ – a spatial planning strategy which adds cohesion to the entire building. These clustered collaboration zones express the co-curricular and collaborative nature of the new learning cohort.

Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor
Rural Engineering Building
© Alicia Taylor

The existing facility has been transformed with a gallery, technological wall, Honeycomb of Learning, maker studio, pitch space and labs, which encourage experimentation, partnerships and enterprise. These spaces enable students to develop necessary skills and relationships, before undertaking the field study component of the innovative course.

ThomsonAdsett has created a character and sense of home for this new community, by using materials akin with regional farm and shed buildings.

The form and re-use of the existing frames symbolises home, complements the rural shed aesthetic and maximises the use of embodied energy.

This unique project illustrates the benefits of designing a curriculum and associated learning environment in parallel. Students and staff are already loving their new engineering home.


Rural Engineering Building
Plan 0
Rural Engineering Building
Plan 1
Rural Engineering Building
Plan 2


Rural Engineering Building
Elevation
Rural Engineering Building
Elevation

ThomsonAdsett
T +61 7 38409999 F +61 7 32521201
ThomsonAdsett
1/333 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia