The Macquarie University Incubator aims to amplify and imbue deep thinking around innovation, bringing together entrepreneurial spirit, ingenuity, collaboration, and support. A place for start-ups to evolve their ideas and grow their businesses, the incubator was designed to respond to the diverse and changing needs of its occupants, as well as two key aspects that informed the design of the space; a relocatable building and a short timeframe for its implementation.
Timber was selected as the main construction material for its capacity to be beautifully engineered, swiftly fabricated to high quality, and for its potential for future dis-assembly and relocation, with the majority of components prefabricated offsite to ensure rapid construction on site and minimal disruption to the concurrent university semester. The resulting building was completed within five months of construction commencing, and despite flexibility and relocation being a strong factor of the original design brief, the Incubator has become so well-loved that it’s likely it will now remain permanently in its current location.
For 2018, Green GOOD DESIGN™ received hundreds of submissions from around the world. Members of The European Centre’s International Advisory Committee – worldwide leaders in the design industry – served as the jury and selected over 100 new products, programs, people, environmental planning, and architecture as outstanding examples of Green Design from 20 nations.
