Woods Bagot proposed to leverage Deakin University's Burwood Highway Frontage Development (of which the Auditorium Project is a part) to reinforce the University’s profile. The project team have provided an architectural solution that reflects Deakin’s aspiration to be a ‘contemporary, friendly and welcoming environment’ for students.

Deakin selected Woods Bagot on the basis of our extensive experience with education environments as well as our recent civic experience with the large, complex auditorium featured within the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. Woods Bagot was also able to provide a holistic service offering from campus masterplanning expertise through to architecture and interior design.

The flexible 1000 seat auditorium is an iconic structure which takes advantage of its publicly visible position on Burwood Road. The auditorium can be adapted to a range of different event formats due to its ability to be divided into three x 330 seat lecture theatres, two x 500 seat lecture theatres or opened up into the 1000 seat auditorium configuration. The auditorium is designed to achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating with sustainable features such as a radiant slab for heating and cooling, an underfloor air displacement system, rain water collection and solar panels for hot water.

Bruno Mendes, one of the key team members on the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, led this project for Deakin University. Bruno has ensured the award winning expertise developed on the Convention Centre has been transferred and applied, on a smaller scale, to create an iconic, sustainable and flexible solution for Deakin University.