Charles Sturt University Engineering Building

Photography by Alicia Taylor
We developed a ‘Honeycomb of Learning’ – a spatial planning strategy which adds cohesion to the entire building. These clustered collaboration zones express the co-curricular and collaborative nature of the new learning cohort.
The building’s spatial diversity supports entrepreneurial thinking and the development of high-calibre engineers for employers.

The building is designed to accommodate the university’s unique new degree, which equips students with both engineering and business skills. Our design meets both these needs, by providing a pitching space for business activity and maker studio, which embraces the ‘Maker Movement’ – a trend where discarded or broken goods are re-imagined and marketed.

The existing facility has been transformed with a gallery, technological wall, Honeycomb of Learning, maker studio, pitch space and labs, which encourage experimentation, partnerships and enterprise.

We have created a character and sense of home for this new community, by using materials akin with regional farm and shed buildings. The form and re-use of the existing frames symbolises home, complements the rural shed aesthetic and maximises the use of embodied energy.

This unique project illustrates the benefits of designing a curriculum and associated learning environment in parallel.

Bathurst, Australia

"The brief was clear that our building was to be a character in the story of our program – it was not simply to be the backdrop, but rather it should be an active participant in the learning process. There was a clear mandate to make this a 'next-generation' learning space...and to capture the full potential of a learning space that was free of the constraints of tradition".

Professor Euan Lindsay, Director CSU Engineering

Film

Showcasing the CSU Engineering Building