Project Scope
The new building will consist of educational facilities for staff and students, with a total floor area of approximately 18,000m2. The anticipated indicative budget for the new building will be approximately AU$90 million for construction and fitout, plus consultant fees; a major portion of this sum has been committed by the University with the balance of the funding currently being sought from Federal, State, and private sources. Construction is anticipated to commence in early 2011, with an anticipated completion date during 2013.

Site and Heritage
The current Parkville Campus Masterplan identifies the existing location of the Architecture and Old Commerce buildings as the site for the new building; development of this site will be undertaken in accordance with the Masterplan. These current buildings contain items of heritage significance including murals, stained glass windows, sculptures and statues. Notable among these, is the Japanese Room, a space fitted out by appreciative alumni from Japan using traditional Japanese finishes and fittings, and a Japanese Garden. The Old Commerce Building currently includes on its west façade historically significant elements from the former Bank of New South Wales building in Collins Street, Melbourne, by the architect Joseph Reed of Reed and Barnes. This façade was originally built in 1856 and was transplanted to the Parkville campus in 1936. These elements will need to be addressed in the design response in accordance with University heritage management plans and policies and in consultation with relevant heritage committees and consultants.

Aspirational Brief
The project is seen as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for the Faculty to achieve strategic objectives relating to the positioning of ABP and the MSD, with a commitment to innovation in relation to the design and delivery of an outstanding campus building. The aspiration of the faculty and the University is that the new building will demonstrate an outstanding level of quality in both the processes of design and development and in the finished product. The resulting design will provide an excellent working environment to encourage high quality research, teaching and learning.

Process
The project will be used to demonstrate the best possible processes of design, collaboration, procurement and construction, with all parties working closely together with the University, the Faculty, and with staff and students who will use the building into the future. The project will also form the focus of a research program around issues relevant to the various professions and disciplines within the Faculty, with staff and students monitoring and recording the processes of design and construction.

Quality
The new building will demonstrate an outstanding level of quality in relation to all of the disciplines within the Faculty. It will be a building of international architectural merit, with highly integrated landscaping and urban design features that will make a significant contribution to the surrounding campus and community. It will demonstrate the best practices of engineering, fabrication, construction and servicing.

Research, Teaching and Learning
The new building will provide outstanding accommodation for research activities within the faculty, comprising individual and group projects between academic staff, visiting and professorial fellows, post-graduate students, and research assistants. It will provide outstanding facilities for formal interaction between staff and students, as well as for informal and peer-to-peer learning. In particular, the new building will strengthen studio teaching culture within the Melbourne School of Design, recognising the unique contribution of studio projects to student learning, which is dependent upon informal interaction, experimentation and discussion. Studio spaces must be creative, tolerant of mess, able to be decorated and personalised, and focussed on making students feel valued.

Environmental Performance
The Building will demonstrate an outstanding level of environmental performance, expected to be a 6-star Greenstar rating (or equivalent) using Green Building Council of Australia rating system. The building will enable teaching and learning opportunities, with students being able to actively monitor and adjust the environmental features of the building in order to appreciate their impacts on the indoor environment as well as research opportunities for the broader Faculty agenda.

Preliminary Functional Brief
The project will provide a series of innovative spaces for research, teaching, and learning, as well as informal spaces for staff and students to interact, relax, or study in between formal classes.