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Swanston Academic Building

The Swanston Academic Building will open in Semester 2, 2012.

The Swanston Academic Building will open in Semester 2, 2012.

Closeup of the Swanston Academic Building’s façade.

Closeup of the Swanston Academic Building’s façade.

Photo:Sustainability at RMIT Swanston Academic Building poster.

The Swanston Academic Building is featured in the “Sustainability at RMIT” poster series. For more information on the Swanston Academic Buiding’s environmentally sustainability design features, download a copy of the poster (PDF, 2.68MB).

Swanston Academic Building progress to October 2011

Swanston Academic Building vision

The Swanston Academic Building (SAB) is RMIT’s biggest investment in a teaching and learning facility to date. The Swanston Academic Building is also the largest construction project that RMIT has ever undertaken. The building will cover a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 35,000 square metres, will be 11 storeys high and will form a significant part of RMIT University’s “Swanston Street precinct.”

Consolidation of City campus

One of the main purposes of the Swanston Academic Building is to consolidate RMIT’s three academic colleges – Business (BUS), Science, Engineering and Health (SEH) and Design and Social Context (DSC) – on to the Swanston Street campus.

The College of Business offers TAFE, undergraduate and postgraduate programs over a range of disciplines including accounting, law, business IT, economics, finance, marketing, and management. The number of College of Business students accounts for over a third of the overall student population.

The Business cohort of students and staff are currently located in Bourke Street and are several blocks away from the heart of the City campus, which is bordered by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell and Franklin Streets.

The Swanston Academic Building will allow the College of Business staff and students to be fully engaged in the RMIT City campus community.

Teaching and learning spaces for the future

The Swanston Academic Building will be distinguished by innovative, state-of-the-art learning and teaching facilities – the features of which are shaped by input from RMIT academic staff – and are available to the entire City campus.

In 2008, Lyons architects and the RMIT-based Project Manager for the Swanston Academic Building consulted extensively with a wide range of academic staff to gather information about their current (and future) learning and teaching methodologies (pedagogies) and the types of learning and teaching spaces that will enhance their teaching practice.

Student feedback also informed the shaping of the future teaching and learning spaces.

Consultation with the ‘Learning and Teaching’ strategic user group continues in preparation for the opening of the building in Semester 2, 2012. Professional Development programs for academic staff are key areas of focus for this group.

Study, recreation and retail spaces

The Swanston Academic Building will also introduce more student study and recreation spaces to the City campus.

Students have been consulted about their study space needs and plans for spaces designed for either solitary or group study have been developed.

Student recreational areas and retail outlets selected to meet students’ needs and budgets will also form part of the Swanston Academic Building.

Ongoing engagement with students is being coordinated through the ‘Student Experience’ strategic user group.

Location

The Swanston Academic Building occupies the vacant Swanston Street car park next to the Oxford Hotel, on the corner of Swanston and A’Beckett Streets, and the former site of RMIT Building 48, at 449 Swanston Street, which was demolished in 2009.

The Swanston Academic Building will be built around the historic Oxford Scholar Hotel and will be flanked by Swanston, A’Beckett and Stewart Streets.

Features in brief

The multi-purpose Swanston Academic Building key features are:

  • 35,000sqm of floor space and 11 levels (including basement)
  • 6 large lecture theatres, 70 small and medium-sized teaching and learning spaces and 9 specialist learning venues for the whole RMIT community
  • New home for College of Business students and staff
  • Two-storey cantilevered student portal that overhangs Swanston Street
  • Nine additional double-height student portals for study and recreation, with landscaped indoor gardens and curated spaces for public art
  • An innovative mix of teaching and office space on all levels of the building to encourage more interaction between staff and students
  • Retail outlets on Swanston, A’Beckett and Stewart Streets
  • High-performance façade with double glazing and sunshadows
  • Greywater recycling, solar hot water and natural ventilation system

Project update

July – January 2012

Construction of the Swanston Academic Building, RMIT University’s largest building to date, has progressed in great strides. Building works are six months ahead of schedule with the new building opening in Semester 2, 2012.

The Swanston Academic Building has also received a Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) 5-star Green Star Education Rating for environmentally sustainable design.

June 2011

Brookfield Multiplex is progressing with construction works ahead of program. The concrete and steel structure is expected to be completed by October 2011, and the façade installation is due to commence in July 2011.

Strategic User Groups have been established by the Project Control Group to facilitate planning for the University’s move into the SAB, with emphasis on the College of Business.

September 2010

RMIT University has appointed Brookfield Multiplex as the contractor for the Swanston Academic Building (SAB). Brookfield Multiplex has taken possession of the SAB site

March – August 2010

The SAB “New building construction - Expressions of Interest” advertisement was published nationally in all major newspapers in mid March 2010. The formal Tender period will commence in late June and close in early August 2010. The appointed Main Contractor will be announced in mid to late September, 2010

Early-stage Swanston Academic Building site preparation works began in May and are due for completion by the end of August, 2010. Building construction will commence shortly thereafter.

January – February 2010

The Swanston Academic Building (SAB) will be cooled by chilled water that will be reticulated around the City campus from an energy-efficient central plant located in the neighbouring Building 12 on Swanston Street.

The A. G. Coombs Group has been appointed to install chilled water carrier pipes and conduits from Building 12 to the SAB site and BTB Australia has been appointed to carry out directional drilling under Swanston Street to enable the installation of the chilled water carrier pipes. These works commenced at the beginning of February.

September – December 2009

Extensive work continued on the demolition of Building 48, at 449 Swanston, to make way for the future Swanston Academic Building. The entire building was dismantled by mid December, 2009.

Design development for the Swanston Academic Building was finalised in late November. The tender for the main contractor (construction company) will go public in the second quarter of next year and construction of the Swanston Academic Building is scheduled to begin in September 2010.

August 2009

The demolition of Building 48 is underway and is set to be completed by the target date of December, 2009. Property Services has appointed a new Project Manager, Philip Flynn, to project manage the construction of the Swanston Academic Building and the Design Hub.

July 2009

RMIT’s Building 48, located at 449 Swanston Street, is earmarked for demolition in August, 2009, to make way for the future Swanston Academic Building.

March 2009

The Design Development program is well underway.

February 2009

The schematic design and cost report were presented to the Vice-President, Resources, the Executive Director, Property Services, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Business, the Vice Chancellor and the Campus Development Committee. Both the schematic design and cost report were accepted and approved. Lyons architects have been given approval to proceed to Design Development.

January 2009

The schematic designs for the Swanston Academic Building are scheduled to be presented to the Campus Development Committee (CDC) on Thursday, 26 February 2009. Briefings with the Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President Resources are scheduled prior to the CDC presentation.

September – December 2008

Throughout September to December, Lyons have been working on the schematic designs for the Swanston Academic Building (SAB). Further consultations with College of Business Schools took place, which has informed the development of the schematics.

Earlier plans to relocate the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning and the School of Property, Construction and Project Management into the Swanston Academic Building have also been revised with the two Schools to be now housed in alternative accommodation. This change in planning has also impacted on the schematic designs.

In December, the architects conducted a SAB Schematic Design Development presentation to Professor Margaret Gardner, Vice-Chancellor and President, RMIT University, Steve Somoghi, RMIT’s Vice President, Resources, and Professor Gil Palmer, RMIT’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Business. During the presentation, the architects laid out the plans to convert the top level of the neighbouring RMIT-owned Oxford Scholar Hotel into an RMIT staff club.

The Swanston Academic Building cost report is due for completion in February, 2009..

May – August 2008

Lyons has conducted detailed briefings with academic staff from College of Business Schools, the College of Science Engineering and Technology (SET), the College of Design and Social Context (DSC), executive staff from the Student Services Group and student representatives to gain feedback on teaching and learning resource needs and student-centred study and recreation spaces.

After the completion of the staff and student briefing, architects will then begin the Swanston Academic Building schematic design, in which concepts and themes are converted into preliminary drawings and the building’s scale, appearance and its proximity to adjacent buildings are explored.

RMIT is also documenting the design, development and construction process of the Swanston Academic Building.

Sue Johnston, from the Program and Courseware Enhancement (PaCE) team in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) is managing this multi-faceted project. The University is undertaking to:

  • photograph the progress of the project using two high-quality, time-lapse still photographic cameras;
  • conduct video interviews with key personnel, such as project managers and architects;
  • provide video and still-photographic coverage on site at ground level, of soil investigations, demolition, excavation, foundation laying, construction, finishing and landscaping; and
  • collect project documentation.

The wider community was also given the opportunity to comment on the Swanston Academic Building and the Emily McPherson Building – currently under refurbishment – at the “Help us design a new home for business” information evening that ran on Wednesday, 30 July.

Around 100 guests from the business community, government, the architecture profession and the education sector attended the information session to meet the architects, view presentations on the building and refurbishment projects, ask questions and provide feedback. Read more.

April 2008

The Swanston Academic Building project vision and concept was introduced to all RMIT Pro-Vice Chancellors and Heads of Schools at a workshop that ran in April.

A further presentation for staff and students was also held.

Timeline

Briefing/feasibility/Masterplan

end July 2008

Schematic design

end November 2008

Building 48 demolition

August 2009

Construction begins

September 2010

Scheduled for completion

Semester 2, 2012

Consultants

RMIT Project Manager

Philip Flynn and Ronan Walsh (DCWC)

Manager, Client Relations

Tony Metherell

Architect

Lyons Architects

Structural Engineer

Bonacci Group

Services Consultant

AECOM

Building Surveyor

Peter Luzinat and Associates

Quantity Surveyor

Wilde and Woollard

News

Contractor appointed for $200m RMIT building

RMIT University has unveiled its vision for the northern end of Melbourne's CBD, in a stunning animated preview that comes as works begin on the landmark Swanston Academic Building.

RMIT News, Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

Arguments in architecture

Melbourne’s universities are competing to build the best design hubs, and architecture is the ultimate winner.

The Age, Friday, 11 September, 2009

Melbourne academic landmark a boon for architects

Architecture and Design, Wednesday, 18 March, 2009

A landmark $200 million development by RMIT is touted as set to create 800 construction jobs and overhaul the appearance of Melbourne’s CBD.

First look at stunning Swanston project

RMIT Openline, Wednesday, 18 March 2009

RMIT University has unveiled plans for a landmark $200 million development that is set to transform the northern end of Melbourne’s CBD.

Getting down to the Business of buildings

RMIT Openline, Friday, 22 August, 2008

RMIT University recently showcased two major building projects that form a significant part of the University’s $500 million capital works program.

RMIT to build business school

Australian Financial Review, Tuesday, 29 July, 2008

A new home for its business school and a large commercial building will form the heart of a $200 million plus redevelopment of part of RMIT University’s substantial land holdings.

RMIT to pamper business students

The Age, Tuesday, 29 July, 2008, Page 3

RMIT business students could be treated to such digital delights as a “group debating café”, “text screen arcades” and an interactive grassy knoll when the university’s most expensive academic building opens around 2011.

[Next: Gallery 1: Concept images for SAB]