What will the Precinct deliver?

University of Melbourne Student Union and the Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development, Murrup Barak, currently located in Union House and Old Physics respectively, are two student organisations that will be relocated to the Precinct. These services will form part of a co-located student precinct alongside existing services provided by the Graduate Student Association, Stop 1 and the Eastern Resource Centre.

The Precinct will be conveniently located close to public transport links including the new Melbourne Metro Rail Station on Grattan Street and the Swanston Street super tram stop, making it convenient for the both the campus community and visitors.

A wide range of co-curricular activities, wellbeing programs and cultural activations will have a new home at the Parkville campus, with the Precinct housing a purpose-built Arts and Cultural Building that will replace the current offering in Union House.

A new amphitheatre will provide increased programmable outdoor spaces with state-of-the-art amenities, and a place for students to relax outdoors. The amphitheatre will support the lowering of the Precinct’s ground plane, which will allow enhanced accessibility into and throughout the site. These new facilities will support vibrant cultural activities and events that emphasise student engagement, social inclusion and diversity, connecting students to their peers and the broader Melbourne community.

The Precinct will become a key part of the cultural spine along Swanston Street, together with the Ian Potter Museum of Art, the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, Science Gallery Melbourne, State Library of Victoria, the National Gallery of Victoria and the University’s own Victorian College of the Arts.

The Precinct will provide approximately 3,000 indoor and approximately 1,000 outdoor new and improved contemporary study and informal spaces. With an increase in the amount of international and interstate students living near campus, and more students travelling from suburban or rural Victoria, the Precinct will support the needs of students who require more study spaces between classes, after hours and on weekends.

The Precinct site is home to both heritage and significant listed trees that the University is committed to protecting and celebrating. The 1888 heritage garden will be protected during and after construction, along with other heritage and significant trees around the site, honouring their contribution to the University and city landscape.

Recognising that the University’s current significant trees will one day come to the end of their life, other trees in the site have been identified as future significant trees and will be protected. A regeneration plan for the site will be developed in consultation with the University’s academic experts and will explore options for planting indigenous and endangered species.

Activating the Precinct through student-centred and student-led initiatives is a key aspect of the project. We are encouraging our students and the wider community to connect and contribute to the space.

Students are invited to engage in creative and entrepreneurial endeavours that will help lay the foundations for future activities and priorities in the Precinct. The activations will seed and test ideas that can then be embedded into the Precinct’s overall design, leading with the concept of the living laboratory.

The Precinct will contribute to the University’s Sustainability Plan and targets, supporting the objective of zero carbon emissions by 2021, and carbon neutrality by 2030.

The Project’s Sustainability Design Principles have been co-created with the student community to ensure shared investment in our sustainable objectives.

The Precinct is a signature project for the University’s RAP 3. The University of Melbourne is the only university to have committed to the stretch agenda of RAP 3, which includes a vision to utilise the University’s expertise and resources to make a sustained contribution to Indigenous development for our Indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

The Project is committed to creating inclusive, safe and empowering spaces on campus for students of all abilities, genders and cultures. The Precinct will ensure equity of access to indoor and outdoor spaces, with accessibility a hallmark of the Project’s development and design.