Central Institute of Technology, 30 Aberdeen Street awarded at the Australian Institute of Architects WA Chapter 2012 Architecture Awards

The Central Institute of Technology by Lyons and T+Z received a Public Architecture – Commendation 

The 30 Aberdeen Street project collocates a range of programs from three CIT campuses at Leederville, Subiaco and Mount Lawley to the new 30 Aberdeen Street Building in Northbridge, bringing together teaching programs for architectural technicians, engineering technicians and beauty technicians. The programs are collocated with CIT’s Central Library and a diverse range of student learning spaces, both formal and informal. 

One of the key drivers of this project was to connect the existing CIT buildings across Aberdeen Street, to make a larger urban space with the new building. The ‘social heart’ is a campus scaled space becoming a focus for the campus and a major entrance foyer to the learning commons and other educational spaces within the building. 

Visually this building explores the relationship between the indigenous natural environment and the local mining industry in Western Australia, both aspects of which are represented in the educational functions within the building. Stratified open cut mines, precious metals, turtle shells, blackened sticks, metal mining bridges, black and white striped shadows in the atria, termite mounds in the red desert serve as a rich visual and programmatic narrative to inform the aesthetics and use of the building.