New $40m Building Opens At Southern Cross University On Gold Coast Campus

SOUTHERN Cross University has unveiled a third $40 million building at its Coolangatta campus.

Designed to help connect students, locals, staff and international visitors, the six-level building will house the new library, SCU College headquarters, the School of Law and Justice, a theatre, cafe and informal study spaces.

The building even has sustainable features such as carpet made from recycled Filipino fishing nets and rainwater collection for toilets and air conditioner cooling.

Vice Chancellor Adam Shoemaker said the extra space created by the completion of the building meant there were a lot of exciting opportunities for students and staff.

“(Building C) enables us to do anything,” he said.

“It’s power in the hands of students with different study spaces, it gives a real home for our law school and doubles the size of the library.

“We needed more space (which) was driven by the needs of students.

“We’re one of the fastest growing campuses. We went from zero to 6000 in six years organically, it’s phenomenal.”

The library covers two floors of the new building and is one of the most used spaces, according to Prof Shoemaker.

The university will be able to offer new degrees next year including a degree in digital business or osteopathy, or a double degree in law and creative writing.

Professor Shoemaker said the building had an emphasis on connections between people and the area and wanted to see it used as a new way of learning. “It’s like a campfire,” he said.

“When I was in Canada they say: ‘You can bring your Moccasins around anytime.’ We have a strong relationship with the indigenous people here. We’ll have a lot of public events, festivals and touring groups.”

The new state of the art theatre holds a 560-seat capacity and is expected to be used for public events as well as graduations.

FAST GROWTH

Southern Cross University’s Gold Coast campus was opened in 2010 and has 6000 students. The university, which also has campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour, has been named in the Top 50 of Generation Y universities.

The post New $40m Building Opens At Southern Cross University On Gold Coast Campus appeared first on Real Estate in Australia.