CBD campuses set for major expansion

The draft Campus 2020 Masterplan - a copy of which was obtained by The Australian Financial Review - envisages a new style of campus divided into disciplinary-based precincts, proposes the demolition and rebuilding of the entire Darlington site, and names nearby North Eveleigh and Harold Park as potential acquisition and development sites.

The University of Sydney is not alone in feeling the space squeeze. Just a few kilometres down the road, the University of Technology, Sydney, is trying to rustle up $800 million or more to revamp an ageing and fragmented campus and increase useable floor space by 25 per cent. In the heart of Melbourne, RMIT University has also embarked on major renovations and new construction worth $500 million.

Among the biggest campus facelifts in a century, they follow bipartisan federal commitment to educational infrastructure and growing surpluses, which the universities are ploughing back into infrastructure as they try to accommodate growing student and staff numbers in ageing and increasingly inappropriate buildings.

"We're trying to achieve almost the impossible: enhance green space and get more floor space," the chief operating officer and deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Sydney, Bob Kotic, said.

While inner-city campuses represent an enviable competitive advantage, they carry significant infrastructure challenges. CBD property is highly sought after and expensive, so institutions wanting to expand either pay a hefty purchase price or redevelop existing facilities.

Traffic and congestion are other major factors, as is preserving open and green space and minimising impact on  neighbours, be they residents or businesses.

RMIT vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner said the creation of the Higher Education Endowment Fund, which has since been rolled into the $11 billion Education Investment Fund, had allowed universities to make bolder plans.

"We were already in planning before the HEEF fund was announced but what it has allowed us to do is to expand and accelerate our plans," she said. "You get to think clearly and seriously about what strategically you need without having to consistently constrain it."

The activity in Sydney and Melbourne follows significant campus development in Queensland, including an investment of about $900 million in Queensland University of Technology's Kelvin Grove campus over the past six years. QUT vice-chancellor Peter Coaldrake said QUT had raised the money by partnering with the state government, the private sector, and The Atlantic Philanthropies - which has become a major financial supporter of a select group of Australian universities.

QUT ploughed about $120 million of its own money into the campus, received $100 million from the state government, over $40 million from The Atlantic Philanthropies, and $600 million from the private sector.

The "urban village" includes a creative industries facility, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, a student learning and support centre, student accommodation, and retail outlets.

Development is continuing at Kelvin Grove, and QUT has also turned its attention to the rejuvenation of old and dilapidated buildings at its Gardens Point campus. It is understood that this latter work will cost about $200 million.

Sydney's draft masterplan, approved by the university senate earlier this month, sets out measures aimed at adding 250,000 square metres of useable floor space to accommodate a full-time equivalent student body expected to reach 40,000 by 2010.

The university's capital budget for 2008 to 2010 totals $882 million, which includes $311 million for Campus 2020, $88 million to finish off works under its predecessor, Campus 2010, $151 million for property acquisitions, and $224 million for other maintenance and capital works.

Work under Campus 2010 has included a new law school, information and technology building and student services centre.

Mr Kotic said the university needed nearly double the amount of useable floor space it had at the moment, which meant buying new property and making better use of existing land.

It was only because Sydney had a healthy surplus that such large-scale plans could be undertaken, Mr Kotic added.

The expectation was to reinvest $150 million to $170 million a year in infrastructure over the next decade or more.

"If we have a really dream run on the revenue front and nothing dastardly happens, we could comfortably reinvest about $1.7 billion over the decade and that's quite a substantial rejuvenation program," he said.

RMIT has committed to its largest investment to date in academic infrastructure, spending $230 million on two new buildings on Swanston Street in Melbourne's CBD.

It is also spending more than $72 million on refurbishment across the rest of its campus, including a $12 million upgrade of its landmark original building, which opened as the Working Men's College in 1887.

Professor Gardner said RMIT had commissioned leading-edge architects for the two new Swanston Street buildings and all work was being done with Melbourne's urban planning strategies, including the laneway approach, in mind.

RMIT's combined budget surplus for the past two years is $108.5 million.

"Much of what we do is going to be dependent on bigger expenditure than we can generate through our surpluses, so we've been able to start with the surpluses - but they won't sustain this for the future," Professor Gardner said.

UTS recorded a surplus this year as well, $37 million, but it will need help if the full suite of renovations and building is to be realised.

Patrick Woods, deputy vice-chancellor of resources, said the rejuvenation works would go ahead even if state and federal funding wasn't forthcoming, although the result would be a "less grand" campus.

UTS hopes to spur urban renewal in surrounding areas and encourage more businesses to set up shop nearby. "If we don't do it [redevelopment] it is a massively missed opportunity. It is absolutely ripe for redevelopment," Mr Woods said.

For the universities, fitting seamlessly and attractively into their surrounds is important.

"I envy universities like McGill [University] in Montreal and Toronto where they are integral to the city, and I think UTS and ourselves have a wonderful opportunity to be a very important and stimulating part of our city," Mr Kotic said.

Consultation for the Campus 2020 Masterplan will continue throughout the year before a final version is approved by senate.