New $80m building project for Melbourne Institute of Technology – A first for the private Higher Education sector
6/10/2009
MIT future campus, early conceptual view
Melbourne’s premier private higher education provider in business and information technology degree courses, the Melbourne Institute of Technology, is to establish a second campus in the Melbourne CBD, featuring the construction of a state of the art $80m teaching and student services and facilities podium tower building.
In what is thought to be the largest privately funded capital project undertaken by a private higher education provider in Australia, the new building project will see the construction of a significant higher education facility on a site wholly owned by MIT Group.
The new campus will provide the specialist capital infrastructure for what MIT hopes will assist the Institute to realise its aspiration to become a self-accrediting higher education provider and ultimately a private university college.
A large one acre site, once part of the former Mazda dealership, the new campus is situated on the south-east corner of William and Franklin Streets, across from the Flagstaff Gardens and the Queen Victoria Market, a historically significant precinct.
The William Street campus project provides for the design and construction of a purpose built higher education teaching and learning facility, incorporating a full range of associated student services and amenities.
When completed, the new building ( in conjunction with the existing campus at 388 Lonsdale Street), will effectively double MIT’s capacity to deliver degree and higher degree courses to international and Australian students, up to 3500 students in all and likely result in the creation of up to 100 new academic and support staff jobs.
Following MIT acceptance of the findings of a feasibility study undertaken by Savilles Project Management, design work is now underway for construction of a 14 level building, to occur in two stages.
The first stage featuring 27,000 square metres of gross building space, will comprise two basement car parking levels, a ground floor for student support services and five levels for teaching and learning facilities.
These will include five lecture theatres for 900 people, two of which will seat up to 300 each, a 2500 square metre library (five times the current library space), computer laboratories and workshops and a range of classrooms designed for all teaching purposes.
The student support areas will accommodate a cafeteria, bookshop, medical centre, banking access and gymnasium. Purpose built offices will be provided for academic staff consistent with standards set in top universities.
Stage 1 construction will commence in 2010 and is expected to be finished in time for occupancy at the start of the 2013 academic year.
Stage 2 will feature the construction of a seven level podium tower, providing space for 17,000 square metres of additional teaching and learning facilities and up to 118 single and duplex bedrooms, with accommodation for up to 300 students.
This latter aspect of the project will deliver a safe and secure study and living environment for students and staff.
Stage 2 of the MIT William Street campus project will be an important contribution to Melbourne’s international education reputation for safety and livability.
The estimated completion date for stage 2 is 2015.
The William Street campus project is being developed with a strong awareness of environmental sustainability. This is appropriate for the locale and the fact that the building will have a mixed use character, including substantial student accommodation and living activity on a 24/7 basis.
This new and exciting project will be a boost to Melbourne’s education and economic development and a crucial component of MIT’s transformation as a key higher education provider in Melbourne.