From the Provost

Vale Josh Hardy

The Trinity community was shocked and deeply saddened by the death of our third-year resident student, Josh Hardy, on 18 October.  Josh was a popular and widely admired member of the College, and he will be missed greatly. He had a gentle, shining soul and a splendid talent for lifting the spirits of those around him. A conscientious and successful Arts student with an ambition to study Law, Josh also contributed much to Trinity through his sport and his pride as a Larrakia man from Darwin.

We extend our love and sincere condolences to Josh’s family and his very large circle of friends.

The Gateway Building

Trinity has commenced one of the largest building projects in its history. Contracts have been awarded for the first stage of the development of the Gateway Building, and clearing of the site on the southern precinct has commenced. These are exciting days indeed.

The Gateway, a symbolic and substantial expression of our connection with the University, the nation, and the wider world through our engagement in international education, will transform the College. It will be a striking, significant building for Trinity and the University, featuring elegant timbered interiors and a stunning contemporary cloister through its heart. Students and staff will enjoy high quality teaching and learning spaces with state of the art technology, welcoming common spaces and first class office settings.

The design of the building, led by architects McIldowie & Partners, addresses many pressing needs for the College. The first is teaching facilities: 25 tutorial rooms, 5 drama rooms, a Physics laboratory, and a computer laboratory will meet the expectations generated by the dramatic increase in admissions in the past three years in Trinity College Foundation Studies, and those of the resident students who have seen some traditional tutorial spaces given over to staff accommodation, particularly in the Leeper Building. With the exception of the Theological School, the teaching spaces on our main campus are both tired and limited at present, and we need to do better.

The Gateway will be much more than a teaching facility.  The auditorium, which will seat up to 300, will be a lecture theatre by day and a hub for our cultural pursuits at night. Our students will enjoy fine rehearsal and performance spaces and we will have an elegant auditorium that we will be proud to open for concerts, recitals and dramatic performances. The building will also include five music practice rooms and a bridge at the first floor level to the Burge Building and Leeper Library.

On the first floor there will be a beautiful art gallery with a feature window catching views of the Bulpadock and the Chapel, and at the basement level a purpose built Art and Archives storage and management facility with a humidity controlled environment. Trinity’s treasures will be secure and preserved.

The Gateway Building is scheduled to open in June 2016 and in the months ahead I look forward to reporting on our progress in this remarkable venture.

Read more about the Gateway Building here

Campbell Bairstow, Provost