Campus planning
We are privileged to have a beautiful campus on the lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people. Our future development must honour the innovative nature of our education, research and the cultural richness of our diverse communities.
Every ten years, the University prepares a Campus Plan (Masterplan) to guide the physical planning and future development of the Crawley campus, including the Nedlands campus and QEII Medical campus. This plan ensures the campus can meet teaching, research and other needs while preparing for future challenges.
Our objectives
1. Ensure sufficient land and buildings for teaching, research and other needs over the next 10 years.
2. Position the University to effectively respond to external challenges over the next 50 years.
Our master planning process
Our process involves extensive consultation with the UWA community and attracts international leaders in planning and the environment.
The Masterplan focuses on:
- Green space
- Land use
- New buildings
- Refurbishment and repurposing of buildings
- Transport
- Activation
- Cultural heritage,
History of campus planning at UWA
Campus planning has driven UWA’s growth and development since its establishment in 1911 and its move to the 51-hectare Crawley site in 1929.
Influential architects have shaped the site, balancing the need for buildings with the preservation of green spaces and maintaining a unique relationship with the Matilda Bay foreshore.
1915: Harold Desbrowe-Annear's original competition-winning entry adopted a beaux-arts approach, placing a few buildings geometrically in a landscaped setting rather than defining spaces by buildings.
1927: Leslie Wilkinson prepared the first formative plan, simplifying the 1915 geometry with strong axes and a courtyard approach.
1954: Gordon Stephenson changed the campus planning rationale due to the increased demand for accommodation, placing future buildings towards Matilda Bay and diminishing the strong axial features of previous plans. However, he retained the cloistered courtyard approach.
1959: Paddy Clare relocated James Oval to the west, along with Riley Oval, to create a ‘green’ interface with Hackett Drive and Matilda Bay, enabling consolidation of buildings in the eastern and central campus.
1962: Stephenson’s plan restored James Oval as a ‘green’ centrepiece but sacrificed Riley Oval for more building space. This plan introduced the internal ring road along the northern and eastern campus edges.
1966: Stephenson revised his original plan, indicating a denser pattern of buildings.
1975: Arthur Bunbury’s plan aimed to cap car parking at 10 per cent of the campus area. The Oak Lawn was reinstated, and Riley Oval retained to a greater extent.
1990: Gus Ferguson’s plan emphasised landscape retention, giving prominence to Riley Oval and Oak Lawn, strengthening Prescott Court’s relationship to the river, and identifying a green reserve at the campus’s southern extremity. The plan also provided a coherent structure to the southern end of the campus following the connection of Hackett Drive to Princess Road and identified opportunities beyond the campus boundary.
2000: Ferguson’s plan recognised that if the University was to continue to expand and maintain the character of ‘buildings in a landscape setting’, then expansion paths beyond the campus would be needed. The State Government introduced capped parking at 4,250 bays, ending the perception of the University as a ‘drive-to’ destination like a shopping centre.
Our campus plans
Campus Masterplan 2020
The 2020 Masterplan is a shared vision that outlines a set of design initiatives around the physical planning of the University for the next decade and beyond.
It is a strategic framework that will guide and optimise the development of a sustainable and active campus, while leveraging off its physical and cultural setting, allowing flexibility in development solutions and an incremental approach.
UWA Campus Masterplan 2020 (PDF 10MB)
Previous Masterplans
Planning framework
The University works closely with State and Local Government planning bodies to ensure its strategies align with local planning environments.
Key partners include the Department of Planning, the Western Australian Planning Commission, and local authorities such as the cities of Perth, Nedlands and Town of Claremont.