Yvonne Yang

Retrofitting Grattan: An approach to a collaborative campus-city relationship

The projects objective aims at dissolving the edges of the University Campus to improve city and academy relationships.

Since early campus development the main university campus is bounded by four major roads, College Cres to the north, Grattan Street to the South and Swanston & Elisabeth Streets to the east and west respectively. While the university does extend past Grattan Street, the street however is seen as a major barrier not only poorly connecting the expanded university but also has poor interfaces to the city.

Melbourne University’s poor edge interface with the surrounding city limits opportunity for movement and collaboration. The university edge between campus and city should be porous. Current trends of academia are inviting industries and the broader community into the academy through contemporary campus design. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the collaboration process, as people are reluctant to come together due to fear of outbreaks and social distancing.

This thesis explores opportunities around the edge of the campus, to create spaces which encourage collaboration and resolve inactive edge conditions to improve campus-city relationships. Through a series of interventions focused on themes of health & wellbeing, co-working, access & movement and creative outlets, the design outcome aims to develop a network of spaces which benefits both academy and city.

Why is Grattan Street important and determined as the ‘edge’ between campus and city?

Grattan street will become a destination with high intensity movement and density. The surrounding built from and public realm needs to match the envisioned increase of activities anticipated for the streetscape for a town and gown approach.

As part of the design intervention, University square is proposed to be transformed into a public plaza with connections to the university, the station and surrounding local land uses. The plaza is an integrated design resolution to providing collaborative and interactive spaces at the edge between campus and city. University square will become a place for people to meet, collab, hold events, exhibitions bringing people from all walks of life together. Where farmers markets were previously held on campus and public exhibitions held at NGV or Federation square the university plaza will act as an extension of both the campus and the city allowing events such as these to also occur here