overview
The UTS Ku-ring-gai Campus was formerly the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education until 1990 when it bacame part of the University of Technology.
It was opened 1971 as the William Balmain Teachers College.
The site is located on the edge of the plateau overlooking the Lane Cove River and Lane Cove National Park. Large areas of the campus are occupied by largely intact remnant bushland, with the main campus buildings located in a central complex.
The main campus buildings were constructed in a number of stages. The main phases of
construction were Stages 1 and 2 built between 1968 and 1972. The last major extension was Stage 5 in 1984. Though spanning almost twenty years, each construction phase was designed and built in the same style and using the same construction techniques with minor differences in details and materials. The College was built in a Brutalist style, moderated by influences of the Sydney School, particularly in the relationship between the buildings and the environment, the use of native species, and the close integration of building within the existing landscape achieved with minimal impact.
The UTS Ku-ring-gai Campus is of historic significance at State level, primarily due to the important role of the College in the development of Australian Architecture in the second half of the 20th Century, and in particular the role of the College in the development of Australian landscape design, and an appreciation for natural bush settings associated with the influential Sydney School.
The College is also historically significant for its place in the development of teachers’ education in NSW, and in particular is representative of the substantial investment by State and Federal Government into Higher Education in the 1960s and 1970s. The College also has historical significance at a local level, for the role the College has played in education on the North Shore.
The UTS Ku-ring-gai campus has significant associations with important government and private practice architects and landscape architects. The associations with Bruce Mackenzie and Alan Correy are particularly important, as the College retains the ability to clearly illustrate the landscape design and construction techniques closely associated with the work of these influential landscape designers. The site is a major example of the application of Mackenzie’s philosophy of building carefully within a pristine natural environment rather than starting with a cleared site and creating an ‘artificial’ natural landscape.
The UTS Ku-ring-gai Campus has a high level of aesthetic significance, arising from the natural bushland setting, the buildings themselves and the landscape design. Winner of the Sulman Medal in 1978, a 1972 RAIA Merit Award and a Royal Australian Horticultural Society Award for Bush Landscape Design, the College is still largely intact, and is a seminal example of the Neo-Brutalist style in Australia, moderated by the influence of the Sydney School of architecture and the landscape design philosophies of Bruce Mackenzie and Alan Correy.
The manner in which the building was integrated with the natural bushland setting and topography of the site is particularly significant. The building was also influential on the design of educational buildings, with an emphasis on spatial planning to create a social environment for students and staff.
The appreciation expressed for the UTS Ku-ring-gai Campus in the recent past is indicative of the esteem in which the College is held. The College appears to be strongly appreciated by students and staff and people in the local area, and is appreciated at a State level for its aesthetic significance. The concern expressed by past and present students and staff over redevelopment threats to the site is a strong measure of its social
Any future development will need to pay due regard to the built and landscape values of the site, and in accordance with Copyright (Moral Rights) legislation, the architects and landscape architects should be consulted. Opportunities for additional development are limited given the extent of the significant buildings and the significance and sensitivity of the natural bushland and cultural landscape.
the above is an extract from the Heriatge Assessment Report 2004: The report was prepared by staff of City Plan Heritage and Chris Betteridge of Musecape Pty Ltd. Peter Woodley is the principal author of the report. Click here to download the full report (6 MB PDF)
<< return to project page
