KUCHING – Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Swinburne Sarawak Professor John Wilson said the commencement of the RM40 million reconstruction and extension works of the campus existing building and supporting facilities is timely as 2020 marks Swinburne Sarawak’s 20th anniversary.
Professor Wilson said this at the recent Letter of Acceptance (LoA) exchange ceremony between Swinburne Sarawak and Saratech Sdn. Bhd., the main project contractor. Also present at the exchange ceremony were other members of Swinburne Sarawak’s Executive Group, and representatives from Saratech Sdn. Bhd. and Jurubina Unireka.
In his speech, Professor Wilson also thanked the Sarawak Government for the RM50 million allocation in total as part of the share capital raising with Swinburne Melbourne, of which RM10 million had been utilised for works undertaken since 2019 to December 2020 to further modernise teaching and communal spaces on campus to support student centred learning.
“The next phase of the upgrading works will be carried out at the Student Hub, cafeteria, male and female student hostels, and the library, including the creation of the Borneo Atrium space. We look forward to the timely completion of the new facilities that will reinforce the university’s dedication in creating an environment that supports the success of our students and the Swinburne community. The works started on 1 December and will be completed over a period of 18 months” added Professor Wilson.
With the focus on enhancing student welfare and to encourage a balanced university life, the Student Hub will enable students to enjoy a range of exciting music, dance and sporting activities. The hub will house a large flexible leisure space, a soundproofed music studio, and multimedia room, as well as sports centre for futsal, volleyball and basketball games.
A newly purpose-built dining area consisting a two-storey food hall with air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned seating areas will be built to accommodate approximately 600 people. The new hall will not only feature 14 food and beverage stalls and convenience shop, but also multi-faith room and musollah prayer rooms to serve the multicultural student and staff community on campus.
Meanwhile, the existing student hostels will be revamped into a student village surrounded with lush landscaping, recreational space, barbecue facilities, outdoor decking, and streetscape plaza to welcome the residents to their new home. Under the same roof, the student village will also house its fully refurbished on-campus student accommodation, laundry facilities, and a student lounge with a central communal kitchen and dining facilities to sit 80 people.
The student lounge will serve as the focal point for students to register for all on-campus residence reservations, collect their mail, and seek medical consultations at the clinic centre. Part of the student accommodation is expected to be ready by mid-2021, while the rest of the student village will be ready by June 2022.
To be known as the central heart of the campus, the Borneo Atrium will be a unique area for students, staff and community engagement activities, concerts, and bazaars. The atrium will also be the central entrance to the library, with escalators leading up to the mezzanine floor, opening up to the new 24-hours informal learning space which will feature facilities such as study pods, collaborative spaces, and charging stations. This new learning space will have an added capacity and will be able to accommodate over 350 people.
Commenting on this next phase of development, Swinburne’s Director of Administration Caroline Hon said the university has been working closely with its students and staff in realising these upgrades.
“As part of our student experience, I believe that these exciting stages of campus development can create lifelong impact on each of our students in their university journey with us. Amidst the ongoing pandemic challenges we are currently facing, these investments into our campus infrastructure is timely to continuously support our students and staff community to excel,” added Hon.
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