Alumni House
To celebrate and publicly recognise the enduring relationships between the University of Newcastle and its alumni community, the University will create Alumni House.
Alumni House concept design by Durbach Block Jaggers
Alumni House will be a space dedicated to fostering the pride and nostalgia that alumni feel for the University, giving them a sense of belonging and enabling them to give back with impact by offering their time and expertise to the next generation of graduates.
The University is immensely proud of our alumni and the profound impact they continue to have across the globe. Alumni House recognises the University’s mutual lifelong commitment to alumni, celebrates their achievements, enables physical and virtual collaboration, and welcomes them for professional and social networking, empowering them to thrive in their chosen fields.
Alumni House will be located on the former TPI House site (now vacant land) at 231 King Street, Newcastle. The cost to bring this project to fruition is estimated at $15 million. The University of Newcastle has committed a cornerstone investment of $5 million, as well as the site at 231 King Street, towards this project.
It is our aspiration to raise a minimum of $10 million in philanthropic support for the project over the next two years.
For further information on Alumni House please contact the alumni team at alumni@newcastle.edu.au.
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Alumni House will provide the first-ever space on our campuses expressly designed for connecting with our alumni community. The purpose-built space will provide a ‘front door’ to the University, providing a warm and welcoming home for our alumni returning to campus and, through our alumni, we will also welcome our wider community into the University.
Potential spaces:
- Conference, exhibition and event space
- Mentoring spaces
- Hot desk facilities
- Shared informal workspaces
- Virtual technology-capable spaces
- Bookable board and meeting rooms
- Catering kitchen
- Lounge for informal gatherings
Proposed activities:
- Virtual and physical engagement with our global alumni
- Alumni to student engagement; for example: mentoring, recruitment services and career development opportunities
- Pop-up/drop-in business opportunities
- Alumni celebrations
- Alumni networks and chapter meetings and events
- Professional development events for alumni and students
- Networking events and opportunities
- Hosting of private events
- Community lectures and gatherings
- Performances and exhibitions
The University of Newcastle pursues the exceptional and strives for innovation, including in our operating environment. We imagine campus places and spaces that meet both excellence in design and environmental sustainability.
Putting these values into action, the University launched an architectural design competition, inviting leading architectural firms to participate in helping us fulfil the vision for Alumni House. Importantly, each of these firms had University of Newcastle alumni representation in their design teams, with over 70 alumni participating.
Alumni House Design Competition Winner
Congratulations to Durbach Block Jaggers Architect who have developed this truly inspiring concept that, when built, will be an exceptional home for our global alumni community and an iconic landmark within the Newcastle CBD.
Alumni House is a place for past and future connections. An alumni building is both for gathering in the present and sharing the memories of past experiences. Alumni House is a beacon, lighting the way back and forward.
Alumni House is ideally located for both passing through and staying, for active streets and serendipitous encounters, for ceremonial and joyful use. Poised between civic streets, an established park, and the University corridor, Alumni House captures a calm civic presence and a dynamic future. The building enables an uplifting, open, inclusive, civic identity, porous to the public realm. - Durbach Block Jaggers Architect
Durbach Block Jaggers has partnered with the following teams to bring this concept to life:
- Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture
- Cox Inall Ridgeway
- Ongarato
- Northrop
The University of Newcastle would also like to thank and acknowledge the other three Design Competition finalists (Candalepas Associates + David Boyle Architect, Sam Crawford Architects + Curious Practice, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer) for their wonderful effort and outstanding creative solutions aligned to the design brief.
Alumni House will celebrate and publicly recognise the enduring relationships between the University of Newcastle, its alumni and the people of Newcastle. It will be a front door to the University in the Newcastle CBD for our 161,000-strong global alumni community, enabling lifelong connections for alumni, new graduates and the broader University community.
We are now seeking financial support for the remaining $10 million needed to complete the project.
The University has been entrusted with donations from alumni and our communities for more than 50 years. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn has negatively impacted many in business and industry, including the higher education sector. The University is not immune from this impact, operating in an extremely challenging environment.
Only by our alumni and local community joining together to support the Alumni House campaign will we be able to bring this project to fruition.
For further information on Alumni House please contact Kellie O'Sullivan.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.