Contemporary universities are becoming microcosms of our cities.Open spaces are now being developed not as decorative foregrounds to buildings but to host staff, students and the wider community in myriad ways; whether it is meeting, studying, playing, exercising, partying, dining, promenading or escaping.
These are social spaces serving increasing student populations, rising on-campus residents, as well as responding to a new 24 / 7 activated campus paradigm.
At the heart of Monash University, Clayton is the newly minted Northern Plaza – the dynamic student hub adjacent to the Campus Centre.
Under-pinning this field of student activity are layered strategies for interaction creating a curated canvas of engagement. Within a 75 x 75 metre frame Northern Plaza hosts alfresco dining under a leafy canopy, event lawns, BBQs, decks, long civic scaled study desks, informal seating, terraces and linking promenades.
This dynamic strategy invites the University population to come together in an animated urban setting, where music, exercise classes, student clubs, pop ups, cinema and exhibitions, or just lounging around, further enrich the setting. A design that says the more life and activity the better!
Monash University Northern Plaza
Location | Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Design and Consultant Team
Landscape Architects | TCL (Taylor Cullity Lethlean)
Perry Lethlean – Design Director
Lisa Howard – Project Manager
Alex Lock – Senior Landscape Architect Elly Russell – Senior Landscape Architect Jennifer Lynch – Landscape Architect Alexa Ongoco – Landscape Architect
Architects | MGS Architects
Engineering (Civil, Structural, Electrical, Hydraulic) | Irwinconsult
Lighting | Electrolight
Industrial Design | Ian Dryden
Horticulture | Paul Thompson
Irrigation | LIS
Turf | Sports Turf
Soils | Peter May
Arborist | Tree Logic
Furniture | Tait
DDA Consultant | Architecture & Access
Cost Planner | Simon Wragg and Associates
Construction Team
Neo Construct PTA Landscapes
Photography | Ben Wrigley
