At the precipice of a climate crisis, post-pandemic recovery, and critical skills shortage in Australia, universities are under pressure to bring new solutions.
Reports have come out this year stating that the education pipeline for STEM graduates in Australia is failing. This critical issue echoes within the nation and out to the world, where interconnected economies, industries, and organisations will suffer.
Universities require engineering buildings to be designed for contemporary pedagogy, so that STEM students are prepared for a range of potential futures. Incorporating flexibility into the servicing and access of engineering and research facilities is central to this contemporary and constantly evolving approach to learning and application.
The EIP is a sustainable, living, performative building that will redefine the master plan and reinforce a strong identity for the Townsville campus. It demonstrates both performance and innovation, putting JCU at the forefront of tropical innovation, nationally and internationally.
Their campus in the tropics holds a unique location for regional research and curriculum. The tropics, encompassing 40% of the world’s population, are the most challenging climate to build sustainably for. With the advancing climate change impacts this will become an even greater challenge into the near future.
The defensive envelope of the EIP is built to withstand the increasing number of cyclones in the region. With the advancing climate change impacts this will become an even greater challenge into the near future.
The spaces at the EIP were designed with the intention of catalysing a strategic master plan with flexibility at the heart of this innovative approach.
Flexibility and adaptability are optimised with large span open work areas which can be configured in numerous ways. The modular nature of the research and learning bars and structure allow for increased programmatic and use flexibility.
New pedagogies for the STEM disciplines require design innovation, where the rich and varied activities are made visible and interconnected, mirroring the complex interdependence of industry around the world.
The form of the building is entirely conceived in response to a site that is situated in an evolving context, with climatic conditions that yield a unique architectural response specific to the tropics - while establishing JCU as a knowledge center for tropical architecture.
The fundamentals of our design aligns with JCU’s research focus in the tropics and will serve to assist the funding pathway that all university capital projects rely upon.
Through utilising performative design technologies, we demonstrate it is possible to provide comfortable mixed mode spaces and improved micro-climate of the building environment – particularly in key, student-centric spaces.
Our design approach enables the infrastructure to change and evolve as the life of the building, and the environment in which it's situated, changes over time.
