The new Paddington Library and Nucleus: Student Hub opens to students and staff from Tuesday 29 March 2022.
Located on the ground floor of Block D on the Paddington campus, Estate Management has created an exciting new space for enhanced student collaboration and activity interfacing with the campus courtyard.
Jeff Peers, Chief Technology & Infrastructure Officer, is delighted to see the realisation of the master plan for the Paddington campus.
“The Student Hub delivers another project with a key focus on enhancing the student experience on campus. Estate Management is proud to undertake a student engagement initiative through a competition that allowed for student artwork to be incorporated into the project”
“Thanks to the efforts of Estate Management, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, the Library and other stakeholders, the transformed space offers a new and fresh hub for student activity,” Mr Peers said.
Similar to the Kensington campus, the new Student Hub brings services under one roof, providing a centralised space for student services, improving the overall student experience. The area includes quiet individual and group student study spaces, a collaboration zone, help zone, waiting area, consultation pods, meeting rooms with AV technology, staff room and kitchen.
David Cami, Faculty Executive Director Arts, Design & Architecture said, “The new space marks a significant milestone and transformation in the student experience at Paddington campus interfacing the newly created Library and Nucleus space with the much-improved campus courtyard, the heart of the Paddington campus.”
The Library is now conveniently co-located with the Student Hub, moving from its longstanding home in Block A. While the building was much loved, its heritage-listed status and layout limited functionality of the space and lacked sufficient heating and air conditioning. Students will benefit from 155 study seats in the new building, updated furniture and different activity zones.
Paddington’s significant physical collections including art folios and books will be relocated to the new space. The more frequently used items will be accessible to students and staff on open shelves, with the remainder of the collection stored and available on request.
As part of this project, students from the School of Art & Design were invited to submit proposals for printed internal wall graphics to be included in two areas of the new Student Hub – the waiting area adjacent to the help zone and the wall in the kitchen area. Students were asked to respond to the theme of nature in a creative way and to think about imagery they would like to see in a Student Hub for both art and design students.
The entries were reviewed and considered by a panel. Congratulations to the following two students on their winning designs:
Professor Claire Annesley, Dean Arts, Design & Architecture is looking forward to welcoming all students to the new Paddington Library and Nucleus integrated in the Student Hub.
“The redesign of the space has been a collaborative example of innovative design between Estate Management, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, Registrar and Student Services – Nucleus, Library and MCA Architects,” said Professor Annesley.
“It was also an opportunity to involve our students in the project by inviting proposals for printed internal wall graphics. The new space which now also incorporates the courtyard creates a world class environment for the enjoyment and benefit of our students.”
Face to face services including the help zone will commence at Paddington Library and Nucleus: Student Hub from Tuesday 29 March 2022. The Library collection will be relocated during the term break in mid-May to reduce impact on students and staff. Changes and impacts to services during the relocation will be announced on the Library website.
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