Tasmania
Xsquared Architects with BVN have revitalized the former 1951 Diesel Workshop. New flexible and technologically sophisticated teaching spaces have been created in a respectful dialogue with the heritage-listed fabric and vast open spaces of the original building.
New windows open the building to the public realm and allow student ‘Learning through Making’ activities to be on constant display. Open plan spaces support cross-fertilization between students and academics from different disciplines.
A new energy efficient mechanical system works in tandem with increased spatial openness to achieve thermal comfort where previously the building was painfully cold, hot, or noisy depending on environmental conditions.
A detailed sustainability analysis indicates that revitalisation represents a 63% reduction in carbon emissions compared with newbuild and strongly supports the sustainability case for the refurbishment of existing buildings.
For a relatively modest budget the project delivers a high performing facility embraced by the student, academic and broader community.
This project brings together the disciplines of architecture and design, the creative arts, and digital technology into a single creative epicentre at the heart of the UTAS Inveresk campus.
Respectfully augmenting the prior adaptation of a railway workshop, this layer adds transparency, flexibility, and theatricality to stimulate cross-disciplinary interaction and dynamic occupation. Open floor plates are structured with movable furniture and soft boundaries large pivot walls open to the Lantern Gallery fronting University Square, a sinuous textile weaves through Curtain Hall in the buildin’s heart.
The Workshop gathers creative intelligence in a resonant space to imagine and shape futures.
Peter Scott, Design Architect
Peter Titmus, Design Architect
Cyrus Chan, Design Architect
Liam Croff, Project Designer
Harriet Kossmann, Graduate
Amelia Lipa, Interior Designer
Mimi Weiss, Interior Designer
Kate Morrow, Senior Technician
ASC, Wet Fire Engineer
COVA, Services Consultant
Equality Building, Access Consultant
Exsto Management, Contract Superintendent
Gandy and Roberts, Hydraulic Consultant
Gandy and Roberts, Structural Engineer
Introba, ESD Consultant
Ireneinc, Town Planner
JP Fire, Fire Engineer
Pitt & Sherry Building Surveying, Building Surveyor
Praxis Environment, Heritage Consultant
RARE, Contract Superintendent
Realm Studios, Landscape Consultant
Studio Semaphore, Signage and Wayfinding Consultant
Tarkarri Engineering, Acoustic Consultant
Umow + Wooster, AV Consultant
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
