Designed by public architecture and urban design specialists Lyons in association with Perth-based firms Silver Thomas Hanley, Officer Woods Architects, and The Fulcrum Agency, Boola Katitjin for Murdoch University in Perth is the first large-scale mass engineered timber structure in Western Australia. Completed in 2023, this remarkable 180m long low-rise building provides a diverse range of formal and informal learning and teaching spaces, acting as a new academic campus core.
At home in the surrounding bush setting, the project’s unique timber design is Boola Katitjin’s most significant feature. Cross-laminated timber floor panels and laminated timber beams and columns are used instead of conventional concrete and steel structures, showcasing the technical capabilities of timber construction throughout the building.
In addition to creating a connection with the natural landscape, the use of structural timber markedly elevates Boola Katitjin’s sustainability credentials. This innovative construction method reduced the embodied carbon within the building by 55%. Other sustainability measures include the integration of mixed-mode ventilation strategies and the gable roof cloaked in a 450kW array of PV solar cells. More than 60% of the building's energy needs are reportedly met by the solar panel system.
Along with sustainability measures, a positive indoor environment was a key feature of the building’s development criteria—this included hard-working acoustic treatments to mitigate excess noise and reverberation from using timber throughout. The project’s ‘creative warehouse’ model needed to support a diversity of activities in the building, including teaching and learning spaces, collaborative study and academic workspaces, student services, and social engagement spaces.
Given the known negative effects on stress levels and learning outcomes due to poor speech intelligibility, a high-quality acoustic environment was also essential to support student and teacher wellbeing, communication, productivity, and academic performance.
To create such a space, Autex Acoustics products, namely Custom Frontier™ Raft Beam, Quietspace® Panel with Vertiface® and Cube™ , were specified throughout the building’s walls and ceilings. These high-performing acoustic treatments are designed to control excessive noise and reverberation in building interiors, offering tailored acoustic absorption across a wide range of frequencies.
In addition to their durability, versatility and performance, Autex Acoustics’ products were selected for being carbon neutral with broad sustainability credentials. Autex Acoustics was the first business in the interior acoustics sector to balance and reduce all carbon emissions from their global manufacturing and business operations to zero. To achieve this, the company undertook a range of initiatives across every stage of the product life cycle, including increasing energy efficiency of product lines, minimising product waste and reusing a majority of manufacturing offcuts.
Autex Acoustics products contain a minimum 45% to 80% recycled polyester fibre, repurposing plastic that would otherwise end up in landfill in their raw materials, and all are designed with sustainability in mind and to be recycled at their end-of-life phase. Their products are also Declare certified to be Red-List Free and can be used in Living Building Challenge projects. In fact, the company has a long history with sustainability, having been one of the early adopters of Life Cycle Assessments in 2010 and upholding an ongoing commitment to offering products that support WELL Building, LEED, Green Star, and BREEAM certification.
Today, Autex Acoustics continues its commitment to sustainability, ensuring its carbon data is independently verified and continuously monitoring the embodied carbon of its products. The company also works closely with industry stakeholders on the best ways to install, use, maintain and repurpose their products.
With its lower carbon footprint and healthy, people-focused interiors, Boola Katitjin completely transforms the learning and teaching experience, providing both technical performance and flexibility over the full life cycle of the building. In recognition of its leadership in sustainability, Boola Katitjin is targeting a 6 Star Green Star Design & As Built rating.
