Wood provides more space for students

ARTICLE The Michael Kirby Building has given Macquarie University in Sydney a landmark that points the way to the future – a formerly austere and closed-off concrete building has been transformed into a bright and welcoming space, dominated by warm and fragrant wood.

Statuesque trees and grand buildings line the almost kilometre-long Wally’s Walk, named after architect Walter V Abraham, who designed the Macquarie University campus in Sydney.

About halfway along the esplanade, in the middle of the university campus, there used to be a bleak concrete administrative building from the mid-1980s. Few people noticed its existence, and most were unaware that it also contained a small public square, which hardly anyone used.

Today, the Michael Kirby Building stands proudly on the site. This magnificently transparent 8,500 square metre edifice, built primarily in mass timber and glass, is named after the law school’s first chancellor emeritus, who was also a member of the Australian Supreme Court.

Its addition has provided a great boost, both for the site and for the activities that have been able to move in. Since spring 2024, the building has been home to the Law School and the Department of Philosophy, as well as providing public spaces for the university at large.

»The building has a key location within the campus, but historically it has been introspective and unwelcoming. We wanted to create a building that would open the space to all the students and staff of the university,« says architect Kevin Lloyd from the lead architectural firm Hassell.

Glulam post-and-beam frame

The Michael Kirby Building has not completely replaced the old building. Rather, old and new have been merged into each other.

The new glulam post-and-beam frame rests on parts of the former concrete structure, which makes up the ground floor of the building, where two previous lecture halls have been preserved, among other features. The concrete structure also houses a number of newly built smaller classrooms.

The previously hidden square has been transformed into the heart of the building: a covered atrium from which all the spaces emanate. The rooms on the upper floors have large glass walls opening onto the public spaces, adding to the sense of space and community.

An amphitheatre, flanked by slender staircases, leads up from the ground floor to the next floor, where the wooden structure begins in earnest. From here, a spiral staircase runs up to the upper levels, all made of wood. On the opposite side, the building can also be accessed via glass lifts.

All the upper floors have external walkways with a full view of the atrium, plus seating areas where students and staff can meet or sit and work on their own. These areas are accessible to the whole university, not just to the departments located in the building.

New look for the building's exterior

The building’s exterior has also been given a completely new look. Where the old concrete façade made the building feel blank and enclosed, the new glass façade provides good visibility from the inside out and vice versa.

In the atrium, you can see right through the building from one side to the other and beyond to the landscape, and moving around the building, you can see what other people are doing wherever you are.

According to Kevin Lloyd, interconnectivity, transparency, flexibility and adaptability were key guiding principles in the design. The spaces also needed to be easily adaptable if needs change.

»We wanted to make the building more open and also bring the Law School closer to the rest of the university. The faculty was originally tucked away beyond Wally’s Walk in a brick building with small windows, which hardly promoted the school or student interaction. We saw an opportunity to completely transform it and provide them with a building that was transparent and strongly connected to the rest of the campus,« he explains.

»That’s why the building has not just one entrance, but four. One in each corner. Whichever direction you approach from, you can easily access the building.«

The main entrance stands out with its cylindrical superstructure, which houses a courtroom for mock trials, where students can hone their courtroom skills and even compete against other universities. The design deliberately challenges convention, particularly in the large windows that allow sunlight to flood into the room.

»Traditionally, courtrooms are very isolated and solid, without much natural light. We were interested in rethinking what a courtroom can be and making it more transparent and visible. When you’re in the courtroom, you have a great view of the surrounding landscape,« says Kevin Lloyd.

He points out that the environment in the Michael Kirby Building is designed to foster the free exchange of ideas, collaboration and creativity that the university strives for in both the high-level teaching and research that are conducted here.

»Establishing a visual connection with the people inside the building and the world outside is something we felt very strongly about. It gives a real sense of belonging.«

Adding a whole extra floor by using wood

The timber structure is closely tied to one of the project’s biggest challenges: the fact that a metro line runs right beneath the building. The university wanted to maximise the volume of the building. However, the train tunnel was not able to take any additional load. Using wood as the main building material made it possible to add a whole extra floor.

»We found that if we stripped away two floors of the existing concrete structure, we could add three floors of wood instead, because of the weight difference between the two materials,« says Kevin Lloyd.

But there were other reasons behind the choice of material, including sustainability and the fact that the university had recently built two other wooden buildings nearby. The capacity for wood to bind carbon dioxide is a key environmental benefit, and there was a desire for a modern and forward-looking design.

»Our conversations with the university were about maximising the potential of the site and about how wooden buildings had become part of the new identity of the campus,« says Kevin Lloyd.

The building elements were mainly prefabricated by Rubner and KLH in Italy and then assembled on site. A high degree of precision was required, not least to align the new timber structure with the existing concrete in the lower parts of the building.

Different types of wood in the building

The main frame consists of a glulam post-and-beam construction and a floor of cross-laminated timber elements, all in European spruce. The structure is robust, with columns measuring 480 x 480 millimetres and beams that are also 480 millimetres wide and range between 520 and 1,050 millimetres in height. The floors are made of maple, and birch has been used in selected areas, such as the frames around the windows.

All the internal partition walls are made from locally grown pine and have been developed with a local supplier. Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis), a large Australian hardwood tree, has been used to accentuate the thresholds and skirting boards, as it delivers a darker and richer colour. According to Kevin Lloyd, all the woods have been carefully selected to work as a unified whole.

»Every time we bring visitors to the building, they’re amazed by the quality of the timber and its tactile properties. Many are also impressed by the way the light and shadows play across the columns and beams. It creates many wonderful moments. There’s also the scent, which I myself hadn’t really thought about before. It’s really quite extraordinary,« he says, adding:

Wood affects behaviour

»It’s also interesting how the wooden structure affects people’s behaviour. They become much calmer and talk more quietly to each other.«

According to Kevin, Hassell has seriously embraced the benefits of wooden buildings and intends to continue on this path in the future.

»We look forward to further developing our work from this perspective and will take the learnings from this building into future projects.«

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