WA Uni Reveals $853m Campus to Light Up Perth Skyline

WA’s Edith Cowan University has unveiled the media architecture for its $853-million city campus that promises to transform Perth’s skyline with light, motion and immersive digital displays when it opens early next year.

The 65,000sq m campus, jointly funded by the Federal and WA governments alongside the university, will bring more than 10,000 students and staff into the CBD and Perth City Link precinct.

It was approved in 2021.

Central to its design is a façade embedded with more than 2800 custom LED lattice fixtures that, if placed end to end, would stretch nearly 5km and enable video to flow across two sides of the building.

Inside, a four-storey screen of 407sq m will wrap across multiple surfaces in the main foyer. Anticipated to be among the largest indoor LED displays in Australia, the screen will act as an immersive canvas for public engagement, showcasing the works of students, researchers and artists through a curated program.

The digital infrastructure uses the same technology applied in global film and gaming production, and at international destinations such as Outernet London, Sphere Las Vegas and the AT&T Discovery District in Dallas.

The campus will also house the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, the university’s School of Business and Law, creative humanities and media programs, science and cybersecurity disciplines, and Kurongkurl Katitjin, the university’s Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research.

▲ A rendering of the interior of the city campusdue to open early next year.

WA Premier Roger Cook said the project would place Perth among world-leading cultural and educational destinations, providing students and researchers with access to the same tools used in blockbuster productions.

WA planning minister John Carey said the integration of technology into the building’s structure would act as a “beacon” for the city.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Clare Pollock said the campus would establish a national hub for immersive engagement, blending education, research, technology and culture.

“This is more than a campus,” she said. “It is a place for imagination, discovery and possibility.”