University College

Illustration © Geoff Barton

University College, at the University of Melbourne, is a group of collegiate-style 20th century buildings assembled on an island site north of the Parkville campus, surrounded by tree-lined avenues. In 2019, we completed an extension and refurbishment project consisting of a comprehensive programme of renewal and new-build, including the design of a new dining hall and kitchen, and new student accommodation. The project created 190 student rooms, a conference suite, offices and student common rooms.

Design for a sustainable future

The master planning aspects of the project were focused on providing the College with a traditional courtyard ‘core’, based on an understanding of the original Kingsley Anketell Henderson 1933 master plan which envisaged an island within an island. As the college grew building programmes had diluted the original intent.

An increasingly aggressive external environment of busy arterial roads made the reintroduction of the quadrangle core an essential design intervention. To secure its future the college needed to grow its accommodation and amenity, lean into its commitment to sustainability and draw on the essential elements of the College's identity, including the gardenesque landscape.

Details

Client

University College

Date

2015 - 2019

Status

Completed

Original Architect

Kingsley Anketell Henderson

Location

Melbourne/Naarm

Traditional Owners

Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people

Image © Eve Wilson

"The original architect’s masterplan, long set aside, has been thoughtfully reengaged in close collaboration with the College. This renewed alignment reflects a respect for the initial vision—not as a constraint, but as a foundation from which meaningful work can emerge. By returning to the original intent, the redevelopment is shaped not through replication but through interpretation—allowing contemporary responses to grow from the values, proportions, and spatial relationships first imagined."

KAI CHEN, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDING PRINCIPAL

The 400-seat dining hall occupies a second landscaped area to the east. Like a conservatory, the hall is arcaded, with a clerestory skylight over a central aisle. All the new buildings, including the dining hall and student accommodation, are designed using the Passivhaus PHPP model to achieve airtightness and a high degree of insulation to the building envelope to reduce the overall energy consumption. Reducing energy usage is for institutions such as University College vital for maintaining financial viability as well as contributing to climate change management.

Dining Hall

Imagined as a conservatory within a garden, the naturally lit arcaded space is designed to achieve thermal comfort that minimises the use of heating and cooling.

Image © Sinead Kennedy

Mural Room

Designed to accommodate the work of artist Erica McGilchrist created in 1958 for the Helena Rubinstein Mural Prize.

Image © Eve Wilson

Knowledge sharing spaces

Flexible tutorial and meeting spaces enhance the college's support of their student's academic pursuits

Image © Eve Wilson

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Thermal Envelope

Stringently designed to meet airtightness and insulation targets in the PHPP, the project sought to avoid the expense of substation upgrades and increased energy consumption that would have been the normal outcome of such a substantial building programme.