The Village is an initiative of New College at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Kensington. Opened in January 2009, it is diagonally opposite the existing New College on Anzac Parade and provides 310 bedrooms for postgraduate students in studios and 5-6 bedroom apartments. A major criterion of the brief was to provide a building that fostered a strong sense of community. Social interaction, community and personal development have been at the forefront, resulting in a hierarchy of formal and informal meeting spaces.

There is an emphasis on common spaces including two common rooms on each floor, a large games room, business centre, reading room, courtyards and a ground floor common/seminar room. A roof terrace on the level four ‘bridge’ provides additional recreation space for all residents.

The u-shaped footprint of the village frames a Central Courtyard opening to the future University Mall on the Western Campus, while a more intimate Eastern Courtyard is separated from Anzac Parade by the glazed wall. The glazed wall reduces traffic noise sufficiently to enable natural ventilation in all student rooms. Solar access is carefully controlled, rainwater is harvested and students are made aware of their energy consumption.

“The wonderful thing to witness has been the way residents have accepted and in fact love the building,” says Master Professor of New College, Trevor Cairney.