Australian National University SA8

The execution of a village-style student offering within the landscape setting of Sullivans Creek builds upon the natural environment timbered ‘alcoves’ and significant groundwater features afforded by the cross-flow of the site’s natural drainage. The project will provide new student housing to accommodate over 1900 students in this unique bushland setting.

SA8 will create the nucleus for a new hub in the southwest corner of the campus around Sullivan’s Creek that will become a new focal point for student life and academic collaboration. The hub will activate this underutilised part of the Campus and capitalise on its proximity to the adjacent Botanic Gardens and Black Mountain. New pedestrian paths and bridges will further enhance the focal point through connection to the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Research School of Physics and Engineering, and the CSIRO.

The proposed design for the SA8 development provides for a collection of smaller scale footprint buildings, to offer a less traditional institutional setting and enhancing the ANU’s greatest physical asset-its bushland setting. The new village includes a range of accommodation types including three undergraduate halls accommodating 268 students in each.

In addition, the village will provide communal and mixed-use facilities that will activate a variety of new outdoor spaces. To facilitate pastoral care, the building design will encourage daily interaction between staff and students through the design of the entrance, reception, circulation spaces and shared amenities.