Arts West Redevelopment, University of Melbourne

BACKGROUND: The Arts West Building by ARM and Architectus is the new arts building at the University of Melbourne. The 7-storey building provides the University's Arts Precinct with a dedicated, high-quality teaching and learning environment. It was specifically designed to accommodate and represent the concept of object-based learning (OBL). The façade features images of selected objects from the University's cultural collections, and was created using innovative virtual modelling adapted from gaming software. CONTRIBUTION: Arts West's spaces are tailored to project-based collaborative, interactive, seminar, discursive and didactic modes of teaching and learning. The innovative project directly influences the way the Bachelor of Arts is taught with an emphasis on informal learning spaces and the use of space as a catalyst for the creation of learning communities. This project contributes novel architectural thinking and design capable of accommodating new pedagogies in the future. University Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis said Arts West would transform the way humanities and socials sciences were taught at the university. SIGNIFICANCE: At the 10th Annual Excellence in Educational Facilities Awards in Singapore, Arts West won the top honour from a field of 72 entries across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The Awards were conferred by Learning Environments Australasia (LEA): the peak body advocating for quality and innovation in learning environments to enhance student outcomes. It also won the 2017 Architecture Award for Educational Architecture from the AIA (Victorian Chapter) and the 2017 Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture. Arts West demonstrates the significance of ARM's practice which, in 2016, was awarded the Gold Medal - the highest award of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) to recognise distinguished service by Australian architects. The project received reviews in Architecture Australia, Architect Victoria, Herald Sun and The Melbourne Newsroom, amongst others.