ARM’s work for Australian universities flourishes

Tertiary education is now the biggest growth area for ARM, and we’re excited to be embarking on three new university projects.

Monash University Chancellery

Designing Monash’s new Clayton Campus Chancellery building is a project we can get our teeth into.

The new Chancellery will be the front door to Monash’s Clayton Campus: an enduring emblem of the University’s identity. Like the building it replaces (University Offices on the 1969 map above), it will house executive workplaces and areas for professional services. Its character will support Monash’s vision to transform the Clayton campus into a 24-hour University city that fully engages with the surrounding community.

“The Chancellery needs to be a fundamental symbol of the family that staff and students have joined when they first enrolled, started work, partnered, or associated with Monash.”

—Ian McDougall, ARM Founding Director

A core ARM design philosophy is that any environment we create must embody the contexts and ideals of the organisation it serves. The Chancellery has to be worthy but feel welcoming so that those who use it feel connected to it.

As a certified Passive House building it will set sustainability benchmarks for future works at Monash. It will also need to live up to, and compliment, its distinguished neighbours including Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash Religious Centre and the Sir Louis Matheson Library. We are working closely with workplace strategy specialists from Geyer.

Sydney College of the Arts Relocation

Like any thriving arts institution, the Sydney College of the Arts is a place of immersion. It’s a place where students work intensively, day and night, seven days a week. It’s a community of visual and digital artists learning, experimenting, sharing and exhibiting.

The University of Sydney’s Badham Building will house the Sydney College of the Arts.

We understand where they’re coming from. Our interior design leader Andrea Wilson began her career as a fine artist and lecturer in painting and print making. Our design team’s Aaron Robinson is an SCA alumnus and still a practising artist. Mark Raggatt teaches in universities (RMIT and UTS), and designs for them.

Our task is to transplant the College’s distinctive culture from its current Rozelle location to two heritage buildings on the University of Sydney’s main Camperdown campus. We will be refitting both to accommodate new and old usages, which will involve designing a variety of contemporary learning spaces (formal and breakout), studios, workshops and exhibition spaces.

We’ll be working closely with the University client and stakeholders to make sure we customise our work to reflect SCA’s identity well as its curriculum.

University of Adelaide Common Teaching Areas

As we expand more into South Australia, we’ve won our first University of Adelaide project, which involves upgrading several learning, breakout and workplace spaces. ARM’s Ian McDougall is an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University.

We think that designing for education is a staggering responsibility. After all, learning environments can determine students’ potential to thrive, to think, to excel and to be inspired by their education. They can add bonus dimensions that enrich education—things that keep students studying on campus, rather than just on line.

“Finishes and choice of furnishings can reflect, functionally and creatively, the work done inside. They can transform difficult, no-nonsense or hardworking spaces into hubs of focus and immersion.”

 —Andrea Wilson, ARM Principal 

We plan to bring all this and more to the University of Adelaide.