School of Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LEES)

University of Sydney, NSW

Wilson Architects and Lahz Nimmo Architects were part of a design consortium for Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) with Lend Lease for the University of Sydney School of Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LEES) project. The proposal was shortlisted as one of two designs.

The LEES Project has both campus-wide and faculty objectives. The School of Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LEES) are currently dispersed across the campus in a number of buildings, and the consolidation and collocation of the LEES researchers into one building will encourage collaboration between different groups and a multidisciplinary approach to research and solving problems.

The proposed LEES project will express the University’s vision as a uniquely Australian University.  The project resolves the buildings’ interface with the existing ramp and bridge, creating a cohesive and integrated public domain within a legible, single and accessible entry point into the LEES building, creating a Gateway to the Campus.

The building shall provide the flexibility to respond to evolving and varied research needs and teams of researchers. The proposed LEES building shall express “Science on Display” and “Education and Learning on Display”. 

The building maintains amenity and flexibility to the Carslaw Building and its occupants by creating an atrium and collaborative space adjacent to the Carslaw building. The atrium introduces natural light deep into the floorplate. Strong visual transparency is created across its floorplate from Carslaw through the laboratory to City Road.

The building has a social focus for both researchers and students to foster a sense of community and identity and encourages cross and inter-disciplinary interaction for both researchers and students by a series of break-out spaces across all floors.

The LEES project creates a new benchmark on the Campus for teaching, laboratory and workplace design and provides a sustainable, long term design solution.

Completed

2016

Project Type

Shortlisted Design Competition

Size

10,000sqm

Project Value

$66,900,000

Collaborators

Lahznimmo Architects + Wilson Architects, Architects in Association

Key Personnel

John Thong, Brent Hardcastle, Tomo Takada, Michael Hartwich,