VISION 44 — QUIET LIGHT
And the campus kept operating ‘normally’ all this time?
It was an incredibly complicated project. I’ve been in
practice a long time, but I would give it a nine and a
half out of 10 in terms of complexity. We were rebuilding
the campus within a live campus.
Is there an area within the campus that sums up the
project for you?
I think if there’s a place it’s the balconies above Swanston
Street. Because RMIT is such a unique city campus
the idea that students can now get almost outside of
the campus, looking down to the street, seeing trams
going by, feeling like they’re literally in the city is a really
exciting part of the project. This really speaks to the
idea of the city campus experience.
To return to your place of study and have re-imagined
your old university must be pretty satisfying.
As an alumni it is satisfying. We still get a buzz even
though the project has been operating now for three
or four months. When you walk through at the end of
semester and every seat is occupied by students, it does
fill you with a sense of satisfaction that you did get the
strategy right. The students are using the spaces, they
are sticking on the campus, they are ‘hanging around’.
They are voting with their feet in terms of the success
of the project. That really excites us as architects.
The university is doing their own feedback loop and it’s
been incredibly positive with students, off-the-charts
positive. I think the university is definitely feeling like
the investment they made is really paying off.
“Natural light through glass
improves people’s sense of
well-being and we feel like
we’ve created a much
happier, vibrant, stimulating
place for students and staff.”
CAREY LYON, ARCHITECT