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RADAR
FEATURES
COMMENT
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| | SIR ZELMAN COWEN Birabahn (Indigenous Centre) Richard Leplastrier, Peter Stutchbury and Sue Harper, Architects In Association
| JURY CITATION |
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Birabahn, the new Indigenous centre at the University of
Newcastle, provides an outstanding teaching and research
facility for the Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies. It
is a counterpoint to the similarly scaled 2002 winner of the
Sir Zelman Cowen Award – RMIT Biosciences Building by
John Wardle Architects and DesignInc.
Although the building has a neat and legible plan, with
a wide internal axis curving around the central meeting
place, its essence deals with “edge conditions” rather than
with ideas of “centrality” or “front door”. Users and visitors
enter through a discreetly scaled entrance, an experience
more akin to coming through the back door. This means that
the conceptual front door – an enormously scaled industrial
folding door that connects the building to the outlook across
the playing field – is approached from within. Ground level
offices have direct access to the exterior, just as the upper
floor seminar rooms have direct access to the outside
through full-height window-like doors with balcony rails.
The building has an internal atmosphere not easily
found in other educational buildings due, in part, to
materials choice. This is particularly so in the detailing
of the rammed earth wall on the ground level and the steel
roof structure and its supports on the upper level. These
supports have an almost bone-like character, giving
prominence to the central access route. Despite these
details, the construction was achieved on a low budget.
Sustainability is fully integrated. Passive heating and
cooling is employed throughout, with floor and door vents
to all spaces encouraging the circulation of air from ground
level to the roof. Light shelves bounce daylight onto
ceilings across the northern elevation, eliminating the
need for artificial lighting.
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| Project Credits |
Birabahn (Indigenous Centre), NSW
Architects Richard Leplastrier, Peter Stuchbury, Sue Harper—project
team Richard Smith, Shane Blue. Structural consultant Prof. Max Irvine,
Northrop Engineers. Electrical consultant GHD Newcastle. Hydraulic
consultant Hydrotech. Landscape architect MIM Woodland. Services
consultant NDY. Environmental consultant AEC. Quantity surveyor Ian
Speight. Builder Stronach. Photographer Patrick Bingham-Hall.
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