University of Melbourne, Leicester Street Village Student Accommodation

The scale of the project required consideration of the contribution the project could make to the public domain – in addition to meeting the primary objective of significantly increasing the University’s student accommodation portfolio.

The proposal develops a strong urban design solution that:

• strengthens, connects with and enhances the existing urban pattern;
• creates an architecture that acknowledges adjacent building amenity; and
• provides an affordable residential amenity for tertiary students.

The introduction of a new laneway, proposed as an urban device to directly connect Bouverie Street with Leicester Street, also provides a north facing laneway frontage and Village Square. This tactic immediately enlivens the project – breaking down a potentially large and bulky institutional volume into smaller parts. The residential frontage is then maximized along the depth of the block, running east west, giving the majority of multi-room apartments a north facing orientation, to underpin the 5 Star Green Star requirement.

The underlying spatial logic has the effect of reducing street impact, adding a new laneway connection to the city and reducing environmental impact on adjacent properties (that would otherwise be impossible to avoid with a single tower or perimeter solution).

At the heart of the design approach is the creation of a facility that supports academic, cultural and social life – adding to the city through the combined effect of how the new building and Village Square are composed – inviting connectivity, activation and participation, as part of the knowledge transfer agenda of the University of Melbourne.