News Archive

Trenching Work along Hartley Grove and Paratoo Road
5 November to Early December

2nd November 2007

As part of the Waite site services master plan, the upgrade of new electrical services for the campus and sewer services to supply the new Wine Innovation Cluster Building will be installed. Construction will commence on Monday, 5 November, to install underground services along Hartley Grove and Paratoo Road. The trenching route is shown in blue on the site plan.

New Building for the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences

5th December 2006

Total cost: $65 million

This important Faculty (ECMS) is predicted to grow by 37% over the period 2003-2011. There is already pressure on its teaching, learning and research facilities with the current 2,700 students, a figure that will grow to nearly 3,400 by 2011.

Property Services has estimated the total cost of the new building at $65 million and in late October applied for $22 million in funding from a submission to the Capital Development Pool Funding, a Government investment in response to the Council of Australasian Governments(COAG) findings. The COAG has identified a significant shortfall in the Engineering and Computing workforce and identified them as Areas of National Importance, in response they have been included on the Migration In Demand Occupation List.

The Mathematics building, to be demolished as part of the project, is 60 years old, inefficient and does not meet current Building Code of Australia requirements. Moreover, the nature of its space means it does not provide a modern learning environment. Extensive refurbishment would be required to address statutory compliance obligations, extensive backlog maintenance and to upgrade common teaching areas to meet today’s expectations. Even then, the building would still only provide 2,100 sqm of floor space on a site that has potential to yield 10,600 sqm.

In this one project, the new 10-storey building overcomes all these shortcomings and also allows:

• Relocation of the School of Computer Science from its current inadequate and inefficient underground accommodation, co-locating it in the Faculty;
• Creation of a Learning Hub by releasing a further 2,500 sqm of floor space to allow for extension of the Barr Smith Library;
• Creation of more flexible and up-to-date learning spaces; and,
• Provision of convenient access for students to major resources and support facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This $65 million project offers the University of Adelaide in general and ECMS in particular much needed additional space within which to offer Australian and overseas students a world-class learning experience.

The Project is scheduled to be completed by first semester, 2009.

New Focus on Security

5th November 2006

Property Services is entrusted to provide a safe and secure environment for the tens of thousands of students, teaching staff, support staff and members of the general public who access the grounds and facilities of all of the University's campuses every day.

Electronic Access

With an estimated budget of several million dollars, a significant project is underway that will place the University at the forefront of campus access security technology worldwide and contribute to providing students and staff with a secure learning environment in non-public areas.

Property Services is also exploring the potential for upgrading the current identity (ID) card to a dual-purpose ID and security access card for improved security and functionality.

Security Cameras

As well as providing a reliable source of realtime and recorded vision, security cameras can act as a visual deterrent for criminal or otherwise undesirable activity.

There are 100 security cameras active throughout the various campuses of the University, with a view to expanding the system to handle a total of 200.

The University's camera security system is unique, with the University's own Computer Science Faculty having written functionality that goes way beyond that of 'off-the-shelf' proprietary software, including an amazing two months of realtime search capacity – unheard of in the majority of today's camera systems.

In recognition of the achievement, the project received the Vice Chancellor's 2005 Award for Excellence.

Campus Lighting

After measuring the lighting levels on all campuses against Australian Standard 1158, recommendations have been made to improve lighting in various areas on a priority basis at an estimated cost of $100K.

Mechanical Keying

To complement the high quality of the University's electronic security systems, Property Services has been specifying and requesting proposals for a new mechanical keying system.

The successful locksmith will be asked to prepare a program to upgrade all of the mechanical locking systems throughout the University at a cost of about $300K a year.

Other Projects

Security continues to contribute to other major projects across the University, including the recent refurbishment of the Napier Building, the completion of the Village townhouse and apartment-style accommodation project, and the refurbishment and securing of the Mitchell Building. Along with various smaller projects, all of these projects assist in freeing-up security staff members to spend more time in customer-facing roles.