On Monday 22 August classes officially commenced in the new Gateway building. The building is the largest project in the College’s history and a milestone for the growth and development of the College.
The building forms a bridge between the Residential College, Foundation Studies School and the University of Melbourne.
The Gateway includes 25 classrooms, an auditorium which doubles as a lecture theatre with the capacity of accommodating 300 students, five drama rooms, an art gallery, music practice rooms, a computer lab, common space, a physics laboratory and archive storage space.
The building was designed by Trinity alumni Julian Craig Brown (TC 1982) and Steven McIldowie (TC 1972) from McIldowie Partners Architects and was built by Kane Constructions.
Trinity College Foundation Studies lecturer Frank Sanders believes the building is a welcome development and a way to increase engagement between local and international students.
Residential College student Matthew Phan who is currently studying a Bachelor of Science is excited by the opportunities the new building has to offer.
Matthew, who currently uses the Gateway building for music practice and study believes the construction of the Gateway building is a step in the right direction to bring Residential College and Foundation Studies students together.
‘I think there will be greater interactions and friendships form as a result.’
Meanwhile students Elizabeth Ng (Singapore), Maggie Wu (China) and Daniel Setyanata (Indonesia) are excited by the new facilities and the extra classroom space.
Elizabeth enjoyed the design and modernity of the new building while Maggie was particularly impressed by the auditorium with its 300 people seating capacity.
For the first week of classes students have been treated to breakfast, Gabriel Yang (China) is excited by the beauty of the building and also the breakfast.
‘It’s beautiful, and I’m happy with the free breakfast, the muffins are delicious.’
For Gabriel the opportunity to move closer to Melbourne University has been a huge positive and further motivation to undertake tertiary studies at Australia’s number 1 ranked university next year.
‘I would like to feel engaged with Melbourne University and Foundation Studies because I felt Foundation Studies was a bit separated from Melbourne Uni before so I think it’s great to be here.’
