Campuses

With the possible exception of the High Court of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia, the only discernible logic in the siting of the existing buildings in the Parliamentary Zone is to keep them well separated by their attendant landscape. Unfortunately this has exacerbated the perception of the Zone as being empty and more monumental than welcoming.

The creation of identifiable precincts, or campuses, is proposed to provide a sensible and flexible rationale for the location of new buildings, public spaces, commemorative works and even some events.

Essentially, this proposal is to use the existing buildings as ‘anchors’ for new development that has a compatible function. For example, a new government agency would be sited adjacent to either the John Gorton or Treasury buildings, while a new visual arts building would be located near the National Gallery of Australia. Similarly, any planned extensions to Parliament would be ideally placed on what was Camp Hill between the Old and New Houses of Parliament.

While the existing buildings would determine the character of the functions and uses for each campus, it is proposed that a court, or plaza or garden, would provide the focus to their layout. Each building in the campus, existing and new, would have a pedestrian entry fronting the court, and the courts themselves would be developed so that they encourage people to use them for informal lunch times sports, or for celebrations or perhaps protests.

The existing buildings will also influence the architectural and landscape character for each of the campuses. Urban design guidelines addressing aspects such as form, materials, scale and footprint, will be drawn up to ensure that successive development contributes to the integrity of the campus. Gradually this will break the Zone into distinguishable precincts, which in turn will make the Zone more visitor-friendly.

To ensure that people can move easily between the campuses, they will be connected by paths and vistas created from one central court to the other. To ensure that people can orientate themselves in the Zone, view corridors from the courts to the Lake or Parliament House will also be established.

It is proposed that five campuses will be formed in the Zone, with Parliament House as a sixth. These five campuses area:

‘Parliamentary Executive’ campus, centred on Old Parliament House
‘Treasury’ campus around that building
‘John Gorton’ campus around that building
‘Humanities and Science’ campus, built around the National Library of Australia and the National Science and Technology Centre
‘Arts and Civic’ campus built around the National Gallery of Australia and the High Court of Australia

Because of their central position in the Zone and because they house large worker populations, the John Gorton and Treasury campuses are also the most appropriate sites for future car park structures. These structures could not only serve as car silos but also as centres for many convenient facilities and amenities such as dry cleaners, newsagents, flower shops and similar.

Campuses will also create opportunities for a more comprehensive approach to the management and maintenance of the public spaces and utilities in the Zone. It is envisaged that as a sense of pride and ownership grows among campus occupants, more consultative decision making processes will emerge within each campus. Issues related to open space management such as service standards, signage and interpretative information, events and public functions, will have a ready forum for consultation and coordination.

The establishment of campuses will create an obvious relationship between buildings and their landscape setting and establish identifiable and welcoming areas within the place of the people.