AFTER years of planning and construction, the big moment for the University of Newcastle’s striking new building in the heart of the city has arrived.
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A new era dawns as students have their first classes in University’s city campus on Monday, a changing of the guard, with the more than 2000 workers who worked on the site now packed up and moved on.
City Hall clock tower – a stone’s throw from NeW Space – will be lit up in the university blue to mark the historic occasion.
The 3000 students who will use the new building, pro vice-chancellor of learning and teaching Professor Liz Burd said, are at the cutting edge of teaching innovation.
“The contemporary teaching spaces throughout the building are designed to transform the learning experience for our students,” Professor Burd said. “NeW Space has embraced a change in teaching philosophy.”
The building boasts eight levels and 20 “learning spaces” – not classrooms or lecture halls – that the university says were designed with a changing world in mind.
It has a mock court room and boardroom, while one room is circular shaped to encourage discussion.
Pockets of social areas are dispersed throughout.
And – the main attraction during a community open day at the weekend – the glorious views.
Designated viewing platforms allow for a long stare of some of Newcastle’s best-known assets such as Civic Park, Nobbys Head and the Hunter River. Other landmarks, such as the Bogey Hole and Caves Beach, are incorporated in the design.
Designed by EJE Architecture and Lyons Architecture, the outline of the Bogey Hole has a place on the roof of the ground floor, while the streetscape recreates familiar scenes from Caves Beach.
Amy Reeves, who attended the open day on Saturday with her son Max Morris, found the sandstone exterior the most visually interesting design aspect.
“I’d seen the building in all its phases, but when that sandstone went in, that’s when I knew it was close to opening,” she said.
“It’s going to be a landmark of Newcastle.”
Despite being a high-rise, Ms Reeves believed NeW Space had the feel of a traditional university campus with plenty of open space.
“What struck me is that you can walk through it like a normal campus,” she said. “You can still do a good 15-minute walk getting from place to place.”