The Moreton Bay Regional Council has approved the expansion of the University of Sunshine Coast’s Moreton Bay campus with three proposed buildings designed by Kirk.
The buildings will accommodate teaching and research spaces, administrative offices, a car park and sports facilities.
The proposed buildings will also sit opposite the foundation building designed by Hassell, around a landscaped area to be dubbed “the knowledge spine.” Wild Studio is the landscape architect for the project.
Kirk’s masterplan imagines the campus as a series of courtyards with built form placed at the road interface to define an urban grid. The buildings will provide activating frontages to a “knowledge spine.”
“The proposed USC buildings provide engagement ‘hub’ facilities at the ground plane, connecting with the landscaped ‘knowledge spine’ to showcase USC’s growing and active campus,” the architect said. “These flexible facilities provide a plethora of potential uses and for private (internal) and public (external) interactions.”
The University of Sunshine Coast’s stage two expansion designed by Kirk.
Image: Courtesy Kirk
Kirk director Richard Kirk said, “Most of the proposed building structure will be built from prefabricated engineered timber, providing a fast construction process and sustainable building solution.” The three buildings are expected to be complete in time for the first semester of 2023.
“Other environmental features will include areas of mixed-mode ventilation and high-performance facade designed with the aid of advanced digital tools,” Kirk said.
The University of Sunshine Coast revealed the design of the expansion in November 2021.
“The campus expansion is another step towards creating a thriving innovation ecosystem at The Mill at Moreton Bay in partnership with the Moreton Bay Regional Council and industry,” Helen Bartlett, vice-chancellor and president of USC said at the time.
“These buildings will significantly increase the space available for our teaching and research, as well as provide our students with sporting facilities and more areas for them to study, collaborate and socialize.
“The development will help accommodate the growing student population at USC Moreton Bay, which has exceeded expectations during the campus’s first two years. The strong demand for university education in the region is clearly evident.”
USC Moreton Bay campus is built on the site of a 10.5-hectare former paper mill at Petrie near the railway station. The campus’s first building, designed by Hassell, opened in March 2020, with more than 1,200 students enrolled across 50 undergraduate degrees. The campus is expected to accommodate a student population of 10,000 by 2030.
