June 23 2022
Awards
Projects

UTAS Melville Street Student Accommodation wins Tasmanian AIA Award

nettletontribe is delighted to announce that UTAS Melville Street Student Accommodation has won the Tasmanian AIA Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing.

The UTAS Melville Street student accommodation project seeks to develop a strong vibrant sense of community that is safe and beneficial to all that reside within the building. The project is the open statement in a wider vision for the precinct that integrates UTAS into the city as an inclusive environment both physically and socially. Three storey ‘vertical villages’ serve the corresponding levels of residences throughout. The remnant historical building was re-appropriated as an administrative centre that co-locates the university with its student cohort.  

“The first thing one notices when approaching this complex of buildings is the generous public spaces and connective pathways at ground level. Within the main residential building the generosity of space continues in the shared spaces by providing multiple zones of areas for student study, play and social engagement. Overall this is a very positive contribution to Hobart providing large scale quality accommodation.” – AIA Tas

The building’s tone, texture and materiality draw on the characteristics of Mount Wellington and the building’s immediate surroundings. We employed a ‘fabric first’ approach to sustainability and combined this with passive solar design and the use of natural convection with the vertical villages. The project sets a new benchmark for student housing Hobart, with the wellbeing of students always central to our thinking.  

Project Team:
Trevor Hamilton, Ken Ng, Chris Norris, Gianluca Chiostri, Lily Shen, Benedict Koh, Aleksandra Duczmal, Karyn Cairney, Evan Box, and Alexandra Macoustra