Masterplan FAQs

Our masterplanning process is conducted every 10 years. The 2020 UWA Crawley Campus Masterplan will guide rejuvenation and activation of the University’s core campus to consolidate activities and provide facilities for students, staff and the broader community to connect and collaborate over the next decade and beyond.

The Masterplan responds to, and aligns with, the University’s strategic vision and campus development to ensure it has a progressive, resilient and sustainable future. The Masterplan optimises the scale and composition of the University’s physical assets and landholdings, and identifies strategies and necessary investments over the coming years to maintain a modern campus which provides a world-leading research and learning environment.

The Masterplan provides a framework for the University’s planned growth in response to our UWA 2030 vision. The masterplanning process has highlighted an urgent need for investment in the core Crawley campus and QEII Medical Centre precinct to modernise these campuses, including much-needed  investments in physical and digital infrastructure.

The Masterplan optimises the scale and composition of the University’s physical assets and identifies strategies and necessary investments over the coming years to maintain a modern campus which provides a world-leading research and learning environment. This ensures the University will have a progressive, resilient and sustainable future.

Importantly, this Masterplan will guide rejuvenation and activation of the University’s core campus to consolidate activities and provide facilities for our students, staff and the broader community to connect and collaborate over the next decade and beyond.

The Masterplan includes UWA’s entire landholding and outlines an integrated approach to the development and activation of the University’s physical and digital assets.

The global education sector is experiencing fundamental shifts which will impact future campus and estate development, themed around civic, social, economic, geographical and technological trends. Therefore, the Masterplan seeks to optimise and blend the UWA physical and digital environment in this changing context and achieve the following benefits:

• Provide for a long-term development framework of contemporary physical, digital and blended environments.
• Provide a cultural narrative to potentially inform and enrich campus organisational and spatial visioning.
• Build a cultural identity, profile and brand that engages stakeholders and grows relationship.
• Ensure efficiency, effectiveness, safety and environmental sustainability are embedded across environments.
• Enhance campus access and navigation.

In developing the Masterplan over the past two years, the University has engaged extensively with the UWA community and attracted international leaders in planning and environment.

Extensive engagement with the community, students, staff, Convocation, traditional owners of the land- Whadjuk Noongar Elders- has resulted in a Masterplan that will guide future decisions of development and refurbishment to contemporise, and ensure adaptability, as well as maintaining the unique character, integrity and heritage significance of the campus environments, and landscaped form of the University.

A Campus Plan has guided development at UWA since 1915 and ensured UWA’s campuses and physical environments developed to meet the changing needs of students and the Western Australian community.

The development of the 65-hectare Crawley campus has been a century-long project and following this ongoing, consistent planning, the Crawley campus has become widely acclaimed for research, education and connection with the community. The grounds and buildings are listed in the Register of the National Estate.

This is UWA’s 11th Masterplan since its commencement.

The University’s Senate approved the UWA Masterplan on advice from the Vice-Chancellor and UWA Executive.

The University is considering a variety of options for its landholdings to ensure a comprehensive approach to planning for the future use of its sites.

Opportunities to invest in the University’s future sustainability by optimising the use of its landholdings surplus to the main Crawley campus are being considered by University Senate.

Any future plans for alternate uses of surplus landholdings will respect the endowment of our forebears and our responsibility to future generations by generating enduring substantial educational, social and economic benefits to the Western Australian community.

Two sites identified for investigation are:

• Nedlands campus
• Park Avenue (40 Mounts Bay Road)

Neither site has been acquired through endowments.

No decisions have been made to relocate University staff, students or activities in the immediate term and any future planning, design or reuse of these sites will involve extensive stakeholder and community engagement.

Future planning for the two sites will be undertaken with consideration of the City of Perth’s existing Precinct Planning process for the UWA/QEIIMC Activity Centre.

The University recognises and respects the level of public interest in its landholdings and is committed to providing ongoing information and extensive stakeholder and community engagement.

Specifically the University commits to:

• Timely, authentic stakeholder engagement with the UWA community and external stakeholders.
• Being responsive to stakeholder feedback.
• Being proactive, timely and honest with internal and external communications.
• Respecting our responsibility to the sustainability of the University for future generations by generating enduring substantial educational, social and economic benefits to the Western Australian community.

The University greatly respects that some of its landholdings were endowed to the University many years ago and any future decision by UWA to release value from its landholdings will respect the endowment of our forebears and our responsibility to the sustainability of the University for future generations by generating enduring substantial educational, social and economic benefits to the Western Australian community.

UWA continually reviews the use of its endowment and other landholdings. Broadly speaking, UWA is obliged to ensure that its assets, including endowment lands, are used optimally and in the best interests of the University in the short and long term.

The University of Western Australia Act (WA) 1911 requires that Governor’s consent is obtained in relation to the sale of any endowment lands. UWA will step through all necessary processes required to obtain that consent. (section 14A of the Act).

The objectives of the changes are to enable the University to diversify its investments to better protect the endowment funds and to ensure an adequate return on invested funds to underpin the strategic priorities of the University.