Teaching Facilities Improvement Project
The Teaching Facilities improvement Project will see upgrades to a number of flat floor teaching spaces across the University, with the key deliverable to improve 'Student Experience'.
Overview
The key objectives for the project are:
- Improve the ‘Student Experience’
- Improve a series of centrally bookable flat floor Teaching Spaces primarily at the Bundoora and Bendigo campuses in a rolling program of works (over 3 stages)
- Extend the scope beyond the physical facilities so that the ‘whole Student Experience’ is addressed by improving associated support systems, core AV/ICT equipment and best practice pedagogy for the room’s dimensions
- Program the works to minimise negative impact on adjacent operational environments and meet significant University dates for operational readiness of the spaces e.g. commencement of Semesters
- Create a prototype development space where pedagogical layouts can be trialled for specified periods of time and develop research data without committing a core campus space:
- to see how the room performs and if worth proceeding, suitability of furniture, flexibility of pedagogy space, use of writable surfaces around the space
- opportunity for students and Academic staff to provide feedback and for ICT trials, as well as, trial by a selected group within LTU
- Embrace the fact that this is a pilot project and lessons are to be learned from it benefitting future spaces and projects
A project budget of $3m has been allocated in the I&O Capital Works Plan, being distributed and staged over a 3 year period from 2017 – 2019.
Project Status
Works are currently underway in the following spaces, with targeted completion dates shown:
Bendigo Campus
| Description | Status | Estimated Completion |
|---|
| Arts – Room 2.03 & 3.03 | | |
| Installation of new blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| New Carpet and painting as required | Complete | 27/07/2018 |
| Provision of new classroom chairs | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade (Room 3.03 only) | Complete | 04/06/2018 |
| Health 1 (HHS1) – Rooms 1.04 & 1.09 | | |
| Installation of new blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| New Carpet and painting as required | Complete | 27/07/2018 |
| Health 1 (HHS1) – Room 1.05 | | |
| Installation of new blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| New Carpet and painting as required | Complete | 27/07/20185 |
| AV upgrade | Complete | 04/06/2018 |
| Ironbark Centre (IBC) – Rooms 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.08 & 1.14 | | |
| Installation of new blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| New Carpet and painting as required | Complete | 27/07/2018 |
| Provision of new teaching furniture | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade (Rooms 1.05 & 1.08 only) | Complete | 04/06//2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
Bundoora Campus
| Description | Status | Estimated Completion |
|---|
| Biological Sciences 2 (BS2) – Rooms 379A & 379B | | |
| Provision of Air Conditioning | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Minor AV upgrade | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Installation of new blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Education 1 (ED1) – Room 109 | | |
| Provision of Air Conditioning | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Minor AV upgrade | On Hold | 24/09/2018 |
| Education 2 (ED2) – Room 212 | | |
| Provision of Air Conditioning (incl. rooms 210 & 215) | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| George Singer (GS) – Rooms – 228 | | |
| Complete room refurbishment including Paint, Carpet, lighting & Blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of new teaching furniture | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of Air Conditioning | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade | Complete | 07/04/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| George Singer (GS) – Rooms – 217 | | |
| Complete room refurbishment including Paint, Carpet, lighting & Blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of new teaching furniture | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of Air Conditioning | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Health Sciences 1 (HS1) – Room 136 | | |
| Complete room refurbishment including Paint, Carpet, lighting & Blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of Air Conditioning | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade | Complete | 07/04/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Health Sciences 1 (HS1) – Room 302 | | |
| Complete room refurbishment including Paint, Carpet, lighting & Blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of new classroom chairs | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade | Complete | 07/04/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Health Sciences 3 (HS3) – Rooms 207, 208, 209, 301, 302, 325 & 326 | | |
| Complete room refurbishment including Paint, Carpet, lighting & Blinds | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of new classroom chairs | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| AV upgrade | Complete | 07/04/2018 |
| Physical Sciences 2 (PS2) – Room 313 | | |
| Provision of new classroom chairs | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of Air Conditioning (incl. rooms 314 & 330) | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
| Provision of card access | Complete | 02/03/2018 |
Benefits
They key benefit of the project is to provide a better working environment for students and staff throughout teaching spaces at La Trobe University. This will be achieved both directly and indirectly through the Teaching Facilities Improvement Project.
Upgrades to the physical environment will see direct benefits to students utilising these spaces, while indirect benefits will be achieved via improvements to the systems and processes in place around teaching spaces. These indirect improvements will enable spaces to be more easily booked, provide better clarity around what facilities are available within spaces, and provide better oversight of the utilisation of our teaching spaces. Amongst a host of other things this means that upgraded rooms can be used more often, while rooms requiring works to be completed can be utilised less.
The creation of a new prototype teaching space as part of this project will allow the University to trial cutting edge new technologies and methods for teaching, ensuring that the best practices can be implemented in our teaching.
Design Features
Upgrades to teaching spaces under the Teaching Facilities Improvement Project will bring spaces in line with the current requirements outlined in both the University's Design Standards, and ICT & AV Standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
How were these rooms selected?
The criteria for the rooms to be potentially included within the Project scope was relatively simple – flat floor teaching spaces that are on the central booking system. The rationale was that these rooms were likely to have the highest visibility (and potential usage) by the student cohort.
Collage Managers, in collaboration with the Heads of Departments, provided a list of rooms which they considered to require the most improvement. After further consultation with ICT, Timetabling, I&O Space Planning and I&O Maintenance; along with a review of Archibus and Service Now requests submitted in the last 12 months, provided us with a list of over 100 spaces to target.
A detailed review of these spaces was undertaken which resulted in a number of rooms previously identified being removed from the list of targeted spaces for the following reasons:
* The space was that other than a flat floor teaching space. E.g. Lecture Theatre, Computer Lab, Office Space, Foyer Area or Meeting Room.
* The space, whether refurbished or not, is not deemed suitable as a teaching space due to issues such as size, shape and lack of natural light. Subsequently the recommended focus would be to repurpose these spaces for a more suitable activity. E.g. Informal Learning, Break Out / Meeting Rooms or even Office Space.
* The space has a specialist use, and is not general purpose. E.g. Anatomy Wet Labs, Nursing Simulation Spaces.
* The space is currently being reviewed as a separate I&O Project as is likely to be upgraded as part of those works
This review provided project with a final list of 30 Spaces to prioritise upgrades of various degrees throughout the project lifespan of 2017-2019
What if I have booked any of these spaces?
No problems. If you have booked any of the spaces identified for upgrades you can continue to utilise them as planned. All works are scheduled to be carried out either outside of teaching periods, or in a manor which enables spaces to continue to operate unaffected.
How can I get other rooms upgraded?
If you know of a teaching space which you would like to see upgraded, you can complete a Project Request Form to submit to Infrastructure & Operations by following the process outlined here: https://au.promapp.com/latrobe/Process/Minimode/Permalink/CMRkBLlbMjYKWpJncJVNG1
Project Consultants
| Client: | La Trobe University |
|---|
| Building Services: | LUCID Consulting Australia |
|---|
| Quantity Surveyor: | Wilde & Woollard Quantity Surveyor |
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For more information contact the Project Manager:
If you have any queries regarding the project contact David Quigley, Project Director: (03) 9479 6690 M: 0416 174 825 E: D.Quigley@latrobe.edu.au.
