About the project
The rooftop addition rests silently above the State Heritage listed Goddard Building
The rooftop addition to the Goddard Building, which houses the Faculty of Biological Science, provided a further habitable level above an existing building in the core of the University of Queensland’s St Lucia Campus. The brief required the careful consideration of a modern and flexible university facility around the highly recognisable and significant sandstone building.
The new design is contemporary and is read as a distinct addition to its setting. Clad in a perforated copper screen, the building has been designed to complement the original buildings proportions and curtilage. The structural system mimics the rhythm of the Great Court colonnade below and the steel portal frame structure provides a ridged shell to allow flexible internal spaces which may be adapted to accommodate the varied future functions of the expanding faculty.
The build was complicated by the requirement for the existing building below to remain operational throughout including the highly serviced teaching and research laboratories throughout the lower levels. The function provides naturally ventilated work space for the building occupants undertaking post-graduate level research for the Centre for Excellence in Environmental Decisions.
