Project Description

Lyons + m3architecture were appointed following a national design competition which sought an innovative concept for a complex chemical engineering research and learning program, to be located on an important site at the centre of UQ’s St Lucia campus. The conceptual approaches articulated in the competition submission are evident in the completed project, including a compact urban form allowing half the site to be reclaimed as a learning landscape, a highly integrated learning/research program gathered around a central collaboration atrium, and a deep and seamless integration with the architectural language and campus form. The architecture of the building is open and porous, with a series of visible collaboration pods, externally and within the atrium, further expanding the concept of a larger public and accessible domain – opposite of the ‘hermetic’ academic building

The form and siting of the building responds to its immediate context, having a porosity when arriving from all directions, and negotiating complex level changes from and between Cooper Road and Staff House Road – creating a deep sense of integration with the campus. These linkages contribute significantly to campus life and student’s social/learning experience. The simple external form, almost cube-like, is clad with a high-performance glass veil conceptualised via the chemical engineering process of turning sand into glass – literally taking the campus sandstone and reinterpreting this within a fritted curtain wall façade. The colours are derived directly from sampling the deep colours of the sandstone within the Great Court itself. The design’s central atrium triangular geometry and form is also derived from this iconic and central campus ‘heart’.

The buildings singular form belies the integration of a complex functional program within. The core research laboratories and informal/formal learning spaces for School of Chemical Engineering are gathered around the central ‘collaboration’ atrium – creating a distinctive school home base. Its specialist industrial scale research spaces are located at ground level, including a ‘proof of concept’ Pilot Hall acting as a central and visible organising space for the lower levels. Centrally timetabled learning spaces for campus-wide use, are located for high accessibility at the lower levels and connecting with the new landscapes and external balcony pods. The primary disciplinary collaboration was directly with the school’s researchers themselves to develop a highly flexible ‘super lab’ approach to their collaborative research environments. The project was successfully delivered within budget, and within a Design and Construct contract with the design consultant team novated.

The project integrates several key innovations in sustainability. The first of these addresses the heavy energy usage typical of 24/7 laboratory spaces. This was achieved by providing a ‘manifold system’ for over one hundred fume cupboards, thereby significantly reducing the overall energy footprint. Similarly, all informal student spaces are designed as ‘mixed mode’, allowing natural ventilation for most of the year. Each of these design threads draws together to create a building that enhances the campus experience for UQ students, adds to its distinctive architectural language, and creates spaces of deep connectivity for the university’s long-term collaborative research and learning.