Curtin University Engineering Pavilion Stage 2
Curtin University Engineering Pavilion Stage 2
- Client: Curtin University
- Location: Bentley, WA
- Builder: Doric
- Value: $20 million
- Completed: 2012
Oversaw and manage the design and construction phase to delivery Curtin’s new 5 storey engineering research facility.
Supported through the involvement of major industry partners, the Living Lab in the Engineering Pavilion (Building 215), was completed in 2014 because of close interdepartmental collaboration between the Faculty of Science and Engineering and Properties, Facilities & Development.
With Curtin’s Faculty of Science and Engineering requiring additional premises for their growing student population, the Faculty determined an opportunity to create a ‘smart building’ with the ability to provide an innovative and practical pedagogical approach to education – providing students with an environment in which to explore real life engineering parameters and the principles that underpin sustainable building design.
Within the walls of the Living Lab, students learn by ‘doing’ and use the building as a scientific instrument, demonstrating the core principles of engineering and the complexity of how a building needs to be designed in terms of sustainability, structure, and comfort.
Two key focus areas for students are examining air-conditioning services and structural monitoring of the building, using live system data embedded into the building’s interface to assess temperature, humidity, thermal efficiency and water pressure dynamics, along with examining the building’s open stairwell and bridges through an array of accelerometer and strain gauges.