ANU Campus Upgrade

ANU Campus Upgrade

ANU Campus Upgrade News / New Project / 03.10.2016

The Australian National University has embarked upon a $170 million upgrade of its central Canberra campus. McGregor Coxall prepared a design proposal for the main public domain spine of the campus renewal. The design features an Agora Green, a central meeting place on Sullivans Creek that connects with a revitalised Union Square and University Avenue to form a landmark destination for significant cultural events and gatherings in Canberra. The Agora Green is positioned on the nexus of the Griffin land axis and the Sullivans Creek waterway which imagines a new elliptical green space in line with those imagined by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony.

The Agora was a central location in ancient Greek city-states for gathering and discussion, often hosting the artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. The ANU Agorá Green is designed as the signature public space of the campus. Planned around an elliptical urban geometry and wetland pond, it foregrounds the significance of Sullivans Creek as a repaired ecological habitat.

The other key move was a revitalization of the existing Union Square into a meeting place with a communal lawn, bosque of shade trees and civic scaled shelter to facilitate programmed. It is designed to function as the primary urban space and caters for activities including markets and outdoor events.

Complimenting these spaces is University Avenue, the key urban spine at the heart of the ANU campus. It has a major pedestrian function and accommodates vehicles from connecting streets and lanes. The project is set to commence construction in 2017.


OTHER NEWS

 
x