The future campus: how good design is addressing the evolving needs of higher education

Around the world, university campuses are moving beyond knowledge transfer to become genuine hubs of community and connection. We examine how three award-winning designs are defining this future.

Though separated by continents - from Sydney and Brisbane in Australia to Glasgow in the United Kingdom - three award-winning university buildings designed by Hassell underscore a core truth about the future of global higher education: the physical campus remains essential, but its purpose is changing.

The rise of online learning has forced universities to fundamentally rethink and invest in their physical spaces to remain relevant and to deliver the vital non-academic elements that contribute to a student’s long-term success. The physical campus’s competitive advantage is no longer just delivering lectures. Its primary value now lies in the experiences that are difficult or impossible to replicate digitally such as social connection, collaborative and experiential learning, wellbeing and support, and technology resources.

These award-winning projects - the Michael Kirby Building at Macquarie University, the University of Queensland Student Centre, and the Adam Smith Building at Glasgow University - were co-designed with their respective institutions to address a single, critical need: future-proofed, flexible spaces that foster collaboration, wellbeing and a sense of belonging.

THE COMMON BLUERPINT FOR A NEW ERA OF LEARNING

Each building is a masterclass in putting innovative learning on show while drawing students and teaching staff back to campus:

• Transforming the student experience: Whether it’s the naturally lit, central atrium that forms the heart of the Michael Kirby Building’s adaptive reuse in Sydney, or the interconnected ​‘stacks’ for research, collaboration, and teaching in the Adam Smith Building in Glasgow, the design actively breaks down traditional barriers between disciplines, students and academics. It also strengthens the transition between formal and informal spaces, increasing the ​‘stickiness’ of campus through a sense of belonging.

• A flexible framework for Learning: All three projects are excellent examples of spaces that can be adapted over time to suit evolving educational needs. Forward-looking, flexible designs ensure that the substantial investment in infrastructure remains relevant for decades to come, moving beyond fixed lecture theatres to accommodate agile, technology-enhanced modes of learning.

• Empowering connection and belonging: The UQ Student Centre in Brisbane transforms the delivery of student support services, merging indoors and outdoors with a sub-tropical landscape to create a calming, inclusive ​‘one-stop-shop’. The design purposefully creates inviting spaces that encourage students to linger and interact, rather than simply pass through, highlighting the building’s role as an integral part of both the social and academic fabric of student life. This commitment to student wellbeing and accessible support is mirrored in the warm, tactile environments of the other projects, creating a true sense of community and refuge.

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, WITH STRONG LOCAL FOUNDATIONS

Our international work, including the award-winning Adam Smith Building UK at Glasgow University, informs and elevates our ongoing contribution to the Australian education sector. Our local projects, such as the Michael Kirby Building and the UQ Student Centre, demonstrate our deep understanding of unique contexts — from naturally-ventilated Australian timber construction to integrated ​‘outdoor rooms’ that respond to their natural environment and individual climate. 

The lessons learned across these projects confirm our position: we understand what the education sector truly needs now and into the future - buildings that are not just places of instruction, but vibrant, flexible hubs for community and innovation.