Edith Cowan University: An exclusive sneak peek inside the new Perth City campus that will open in February

Soaring staircases, stunning giant screens and light-filled corridors will greet students walking through the doors of Edith Cowan University City campus when it opens in February. The impressive $853 million vertical campus that has quickly taken shape in Yagan Square — above the railway line that once divided the city — is set to invigorate Perth’s CBD. The West Australian was given a sneak peek inside the world-class building as workers performed last-minute touch-ups before Multiplex formally handed over the completed project — on budget and on time — on Friday. And it’s not just students and staff who will benefit — with nearby cafes, bars and restaurants preparing for an influx of patrons. Audiences who flock to the McCusker Recital Hall and The Playhouse will experience world-leading acoustics, with box-in-box construction eliminating sound and vibration from trains rumbling below the building. The performance venues, numerous dance and rehearsal studios and practice rooms occupy the northern part of the campus — the new home for the globally-famous WA Academy of Performing Arts. Broadcast studios boasting the latest technology and cyber-security facilities with screens set up to monitor cyber attacks in real time are on the city side of the campus. There is even a moot court for holding mock legal trials, complete with seating for jury members and court reporters. Spanning 65,00sqm across 11 floors, the campus is the culmination of a joint investment by Federal and State Governments and ECU as part of the Perth City Deal. Lead architect Neil Appleton said the campus colours realised a vision first expressed in a drawing by Noongar artist Richard Walley, with earth tones on lower levels transitioning to greens and blues at the top to signify water flowing from the hills to the sea. “The escalators and the stairs and everything that is vertical circulation is all blue, which is the idea of the water running through the landscape,” he said. “It’s an enormous, vertical campus, so we really had to set it up so that the students felt comfortable in it and could easily find their way amongst all the teaching spaces.” But his favourite part of the whole building is the brass and timber “musical staircase”. “The idea of the stairs was trying to bring together the idea of a brass wind instrument with a timber string instrument,” he said. ECU Vice-Chancellor Clare Pollock said that after three years of watching the “incredible” building coming out of the ground, it was exciting to be so close to opening the doors for semester one next year. In the 12 months since she joined ECU, she had been entering the building through the construction entrance wearing a hard hat, high vis and steel-capped boots. “It is a surreal feeling that we’re finally here,” she said. “It is a beautiful building, incredible construction, and it’s going to bring students from WAAPA in performing arts and creative arts, business and technology all in together to liven up the city and really give our students an outstanding experience here.” Professor Pollock said early indications were that applications to attend the new campus were “fierce”. “We’re seeing really great interest in our business courses in the city, and of course in our media and communications and journalism courses,” she said. Planning Minister John Carey said the city-based university campus — first suggested at a Perth city summit in 2017 — would pump new life into the CBD. “This will be a game-changer for Perth,” he said. “It will bring 10,000 staff and students into the heart of the city. That means a lot more people walking through the city, foot traffic, activity, life, vibrancy. “We shouldn’t under-estimate how important this is. This really is a critical milestone for Perth’s history as a city.” Federal MP for Perth Patrick Gorman hailed the campus as a “nation-building project”. “This means that we have a world class university campus in one of the great cities of Australia, right here in Perth, and it means the students will get the education and facilities that they deserve,” he said.