UTS FEIT

BSA were commissioned by UTS to design and develop an innovative high-tech research facility for the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) that would provide a facility for a wide range of disparate engineering schools within which interdisciplinary interactions could take place. Workspaces and research areas were to be designed to be as open and transparent as possible to facilitate collaboration and ideas sharing. The resultant new Technology Hub consists of Innovative Super Labs, flexible workspaces for activity-based working, project spaces and neighbourhoods.

Prior to working on the FEIT Tech Lab, BSA had acquired experience working on numerous collaborative learning spaces as well as on specialist laboratory facilities. The FEIT project however provided the opportunity to develop a facility at a significantly greater larger scale. BSA’s knowledge of specialist laboratory fit outs allowed for a seamless integration of these facilities into the design solution.

Being a multidisciplinary Technology Hub, Burtenshaw Scoufis focused on creating a space, which fulfilled the diverse briefs of numerous research groups within the faculty. To fulfil the brief requirements, BSA maximised area efficiency by allocating shared teaching and workspaces and increasing multidisciplinary interaction by increasing cross over of work and research spaces.

As a design exercise the process was challenging, involving a significant number of competing interests that we were required to satisfy with creative ideas about shared spaces and the provision of multifunctional solutions. The process was both exciting and rewarding achieving an outcome which generally satisfied a complex brief and has led to further work on the facility.