St. Catherine’s College

University of Western Australia, Perth

Wilson Architects have designed new accommodation at St. Catherine’s College, UWA Perth, derived of small neighbourhoods belonging to students, with places that facilitate a variety of learning environments, to create a building rich in cultural understanding. The building is purposefully planned for St. Catherine’s Dandjoo Darbalung program, which in Nyungar means ‘mixing together’ and which aims to provides equity of access for Indigenous students. Similarly, part of the building’s ambition is to seamlessly integrate itself into the existing campus and enhance the living and learning experience for the entire College, informed by inclusivity, cultural understanding and sensitivity, and countering any perceptions of segregation.

The main objective of the building is to facilitate the support pillars of the Dandjoo Darbalung program, which is to provide extensive academic support, carefully structured around personal student empowerment, and providing a clear pathway for young Indigenous people to obtain skilled, professional employment after graduation. Early research between the College and Wilson Architects identified that indigenous students, in particular, struggle with the dislocation and isolation of living away from their home as first-time university students when confronted with the tradition and institution of university life. For some students, traditional campus living can facilitate reduced social interaction, whereby social contact might occur only in dining halls or passing in the corridors, and these students can quickly become withdrawn and isolated in their rooms, leading to poor personal wellbeing, poor learning outcomes, and poor retention rates. The solution was to reconstruct the College living environment.

A culturally sensitive project required consultation with indigenous and non-indigenous stakeholders to ensure appropriate landscape places were developed. This particular meeting space that connects to earth, fire, wind and sky was one of many culturally diverse spaces created around this student housing project.