Scenario Based Space Planning and Scheduling Analysis for the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne. Founded in 1853, it is Australia’s second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb north of the Melbourne central business district, with several other campuses located across Victoria.
Melbourne is a sandstone university and a member of the “Group of Eight”. Since 1872 various residential colleges have become affiliated with the university. There are 10 colleges located on the main campus and in nearby suburbs offering academic, sporting and cultural programs alongside accommodation for Melbourne students and faculty.
Melbourne comprises 10 separate academic units and is associated with numerous institutes and research centres. Amongst Melbourne’s 15 graduate schools the Melbourne Business School, Law and Medical schools are particularly well regarded.
Times Higher Education ranked Melbourne 32nd globally in 2017-2018, while the Academic Ranking of World Universities places Melbourne 38th in the world (both first in Australia), ranked sixth in the world according to the 2019 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.
Four Australian prime ministers and five governors-general have graduated from the University of Melbourne. Ten Nobel laureates have been students or faculty, the most of any Australian university. The University has 52,800 full time students.
The University was planning a major refurbishment for the Arts West precinct on the Parkville Campus. A significant component of the project was the provision of new teaching accommodation for the Faculty of Arts. The challenge was to determine if the provision of teaching spaces was adequate, or excessive, for the needs of the Faculty. The stated goal was to accommodate 80% of Faculty teaching within, and adjacent to the Arts West development.
The academic timetable for the Faculty of Arts was analysed by EventMAP to determine the level of room usage, by activity type, across existing rooms on the campus. This use was then modelled against the proposed teaching profile of the Arts West development to determine the appropriateness of teaching space provision. To identify specific issues in the allocation of events to the new room profile, a timetabling exercise using the current semester was mapped against the new space profile to identify issues of concern or opportunity.
The space planning approach to understanding the appropriateness of the new space profile indicated that the provision of the new spaces was sufficient to meet the needs of the Faculty but did not achieve an 80% consolidation of delivery within the Arts West precinct. The detailed timetabling exercise however confirmed that, with adjustments to some room capacities, this goal of 80% was achievable. The results were then incorporated into the detailed design work for the project.
Image: Donaldytong (CC BY-SA 3.0)
EventMAP provided excellent data analysis and sector knowledge to support our decision making and cost management for new facilities within the Arts West precinct.
