Whadjuk Noongar
Western Australia
Transformation, collaboration and creative thinking underpin the new University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle Campus Library and Student Hub, redefining the student learning experience and reconnecting with the public realm to reframe the university as a significant cultural centre within Fremantle’s historic West End.
Originally a light refurbishment of the university’s heritage-listed campus library, the project transformed four additional buildings, creating a modern ‘living library’ with a range of casual, active and quiet learning spaces, shifting the focus towards collaboration and social interaction.
Today, the hub is the identifiable ‘heart’ of the university campus, offering new activated uses and a double-height void and a glazed façade. Unlocking two storeys and around 800sqm by compacting all books and rehousing non-student staff, the hub is expansive, light and modern as a timeless adaptive reuse asset that honours the university’s heritage and wider city life.
The design transformed a series of interconnected heritage-listed buildings into modern, vibrant spaces where students and staff can come together to study, collaborate and socialise.
By repurposing these spaces to be fully student-centred, the project has enlivened this precinct and realised its potential as the heart of the Fremantle Campus, while remaining true to the history of the locality.
Students, staff and visitors responded with enthusiasm to this transformation and immediately embraced the opportunities the spaces afford them. The hub is now completely interwoven with the life of the Campus and the student’s experience of the University.
Jessika Hames, Design Architect
Martin Bradbury, Project Leader
Cameron Atkins, Graduate of Architecture
Amy Tamati, Graduate of Architecture
Jessica Green, Interior Designer
Morgan Wolpers, Interior Designer
Courtnee Nichols, Graduate Interior Designer
Arup Australia Pty Ltd, Multi Discipline Engineering Services – Mechanical, Electrical, ICT, Fire, Hydraulic, Lighting
Griffiths Architects, Heritage Consultant
Gabriels Hearne Farrell, Acoustic Consultant
Resolve Group, NCC Compliance & Building Certification
UDLA, Landscape Consultant
Yunga Foundation, Traditional Owner Engagement