The colourful curves and innovative interiors of the building housing the UTS Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Health have been recognised at Australia’s premier architecture awards.
The Thomas Street building, designed by Durbach Block Jaggers in association with BVN Architecture, received the inaugural National Award for Educational Architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) National Architecture Awards night in Brisbane.
The award follows hard on the heels of more than 12 prizes and awards UTS has received for design, sustainability and building innovation associated with its $1.2 billion City Campus Master Plan. The building is also one of only a few in Australia to achieve a six-star Green Star Design rating.
The AIA jury acknowledged the eight-storey building’s impressive contribution to the University’s development. “It is a lively, architecturally inventive learning and research environment,” the five jurists wrote in their citation.
They noted the building’s “rippling facades”, “sinuous stairway” and shafts of natural light that penetrate the underground spaces as effectively as the upper levels.
They also applauded the “additional layer of delight” added through the architect’s personal touches – bold murals on entry doors, Southern Cross clusters of downlights and an all-green auditorium with laboratory beaker lights – and the way it allows maximum sunlight onto Alumni Green, “a major recreational student space for the campus”.
UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs said the win was an affirmation of the University’s commitment to combining creativity with innovation in design and use of technology to create a campus in which students could have the very best learning and social experiences.
“This building offers truly distinctive and engaging learning opportunities and is the embodiment of UTS’s new approaches to teaching,” Professor Brungs said.
“Its innovative learning spaces and research facilities support both our world-leading researchers and students just starting their careers. This building has been designed to tackle the urgent health and science challenges here in Australia and beyond.”
The national architecture award caps off a big year for the Science and Graduate School of Health building and other stars of UTS’s campus redevelopment – the Frank Gehry-designed Dr Chau Chak Wing building, home to the UTS Business School, and the Faculty of Engineering and IT building, designed by Melbourne-based architects Denton Corker Marshall.
The Science and Graduate School of Health building received the following accolades in 2015:
- NSW Architecture Awards (Institute of Architects) – inaugural William E. Kemp Award for Educational Architecture
- NSW Architecture Awards (Institute of Architects) – City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Architecture Prize
- Sydney Design Awards – Gold Winner, mixed use architecture
- Architecture & Design Sustainability Awards – public building and urban design
- NSW Green Globe Awards – Built Environment Sustainability, commercial properties
The Dr Chau Chak Wing building, which achieved worldwide recognition for its unique design by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, has also won a number of prizes for use of brick, steel and timber, including several awards from the Master Builders Association NSW.
- The building housing the UTS Science Faculty and Graduate School of Health has been awarded the inaugural National Award for Educational Architecture by the Australian Institute of Architects.
- The award comes on top of more than 12 prizes and awards UTS has received for design, sustainability and building innovation associated with its $1.2 billion City Campus Master Plan.