Kate Bennet, Bernice Hookey, Vanessa Angelina Taveras Dalmau, Philipa Duthie, Phillip Daffara, Bettina McIlwraith

Case study: University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) Foundation Building, Moreton Campus

Moreton Parade, Petrie. -27.27062720249361, 152.98164114431927

Foundation Building of the new USC Moreton campus

This project satisfies all the criteria. The large multi-use building is completed, in the context of an overall campus master plan, within an activity centre master plan. It is a regional project in terms of socio-cultural impact and it is centrally located to the majority of the study group participants, allowing a physical site visit. The project has high sustainable development and green building goals as part of the University’s social responsibility mission. The Building and campus was conceived as a catalyst for the urban renewal of a larger precinct that was formerly a paper mill and is planned to be a mixed-use activity centre within walking distance to the Petrie Train Station. As a result, there are many systems being affected locally and regionally that can be included in the case study and in generating an alternative regenerative scenario. The idea of nested development could also be explored by the study group to reveal what lessons are being learned or not being learned by the client. That is the nested impacts of the USC Foundation Building as a catalytic project within the evolving campus, within the broader emerging Petrie Activity Centre. Finally, the team believes that as a University project, key client stakeholders will be open to this case study using regenerative frameworks. A team member in our group has contact links to the architectural firm who designed the project and to the USC (client).

The project received in 2022 a Queensland Architecture Award - Educational Architecture. Their project description states: “The first building on USC’s new Moreton Bay Campus is a ‘next-gen’ smart campus that’s super flexible for planned growth. Hassell designed the three-story Foundation Building to be built fast to meet demand, accommodating around 1500 students immediately and up to 5000 in the first three years, including science, engineering, allied health, education, law, and business students. A two-storey amphitheatre centralises activity at the heart of the building – supported by adjacent nodes of student and IT services and a 24-hour library. In tune with the broader campus, the Foundation Building encourages use by the community with lecture theatre and large format learning spaces zoned for after-hours events. The building’s deep over-hanging roofs and extensive sun-shading optimise solar performance for a sub-tropical climate.” The foundation building was the first structure built in a planned 10.5-hectare university precinct that will form the heart of “The Mill at Moreton Bay”, planned by Moreton Bay Regional Council to be a vibrant civic, cultural and educational precinct for the community.