Chancellery & Business School

 

Chancellery & Business School

The new buildings at Edith Cowan University are sited on a gentle rise, set amongst bushland and eucalypts. The organic forms of the architecture have been developed to appear to rise almost 'naturally' out of the landscape itself and to represent and embody the values and aspirations of the university. Equally important is the transformation of this site into an urban focus and catalyst for a dense future campus that defines a series of symbolic, open, public spaces, of democratic nature.
The Chancellery is made like two giant plants, their branches fanning out and rising up from the ground to almost touch at the centre. These two rising forms frame a vista down to the lake and open wide toward Grand Drive in a gesture of welcoming and invitation to the city. This curving form is assembled from Jarrah struts that begin almost parallel with the ground and gradually fold up and out, framing a new ceremonial open space and reaching up towards the sky.

The Jarrah screen provides shelter, shade and structural support to the assembly of work areas, courtyards, cafe and gallery spaces that step up from one to three levels. Within the interstitial space between the timber screen and the main enclosure, the circulation is concentrated. Stairways and lifts occurring in this shaded zone open to the view, creating informal meeting places and drawing occupants to the exterior as they move between the floors and wings of the building.

Positioned on either side of the central space, within the sheltering screen, are located the Council Chamber and the executive offices of the Vice Chancellor, held in visible democratic balance either side of the vista and connecting bridge.

In counterpoint with the Chancellery is the linear structure that accommodates the School of Business teaching and offices spaces. In another interpretation of the landscape, the ground plane has been extended and bent up into a gentle slope that looks back to the rising forms of the Chancellery. This form is made from the material of the earth: clay brick and concrete packed together to create an enclosing, bowl-like open space with seating for events or informal meeting and gathering. Intersecting this artificial landscape slope are metal enclosures accommodating the academic offices. These orthogonal forms look back towards the Chancellery and city beyond through a metal veil of automatic louvres that shield the sun.

This project at Joondalup demonstrates two key aspects of the work of fjmt: topographic placemaking and a sustainable approach to local climatic conditions.

- Kenneth Frampton

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fjmtstudio acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres  Strait Islander peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work.

We recognise their continuing connection to Country and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

We extend this acknowledgement to Indigenous People globally, recognising their human
rights and freedoms as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.