Vision Magazine
The footbridge has a quite ceremonial quality that
directs students right into the heart of the building.
It has a castellian quality to it, with the moat and the
‘turreted’ parapet form, so it does have quite a sense
of arrival over the bridge. We were quite excited
about the opportunities the bridge element afforded
the project as it wasn’t in the original brief. We did a
couple of early design options that connected this
building with the La Trobe Research precinct facilities
to the south-east, and it evolved from there. We
thought it would be fantastic to connect them, and
more importantly to bring a campus entry through
the centre of the building. Our practice often talks
about porous university buildings, so this bridge
adds to the five main entrances — three on the lower
ground and two on the upper level.
There seems to be a sense that learning can
occur at the edges and this reflects the way society
is leaning away from traditional spaces. While the
building adapts to that challenge doesn’t it illustrate
how difficult it is to future-proof buildings?
Cognitive learning or learning by ‘doing’ is a much
more physically apparent concept in buildings now so much more than even five years ago. The double
height informal spaces through the building act as
permanent infrastrucuture, whilst the learning and
office space can be adapted readily to new uses as
the University changes. The podium on the western
side is a response to diversity by adding another
key informal outdoor space. It’s probably a ‘looser’
building than La Trobe initially envisaged and it really
reflects a series of informal zones, beautifully lit by
natural light. This building draws the eye to passers
by and hopefully attracts interest to these significant
spaces too. You do have to bring your clients along
on the journey with these projects, and re-imagine
what their brief could translate to. Future proofing
involves a flexibility that will engage and work for
diverse users over a long period of time, but needs
to clearly work in an inspirational way for the initial
inhabitants.
Bridge Builder