Campus Life: noise and nuisance from new student hub construction

By Afia Khan

Student life at Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus is enduring a year of disruption due to construction of a new study space.

A four-storey building at the Hawthorn campus is being redeveloped with an outdoor terrace, with promises of an improved student experience. But students are complaining about the construction noise which is interfering with in-person classes. 

“It's just some small-like tapping. But for some other students, the repetitive tapping that is happening upstairs is causing them to struggle in their classes,” said Arlo Fehring from the Swinburne Association for Accessibility.

An artist's impression of the new LateLab. Photo: Swinburne University

There are also problems with blocked walkways restricting building access. Mr Fehring said the stairs to the Atrium, a popular meeting point, were recently blocked without notice. 

“The stairs they've blocked off is the main stairs that they use, and there was no notice that it was gonna happen,” they said. 

Swinburne posts updates on social media, but Fehring said not many students followed the university’s platforms.

“Information around Swinburne is always very difficult to find, so that is always going to be an issue and it is something that I think a lot of people are trying to work on,” they said.

Toni Brient, the communications manager of the ‘next gen_campus’ project, said the project responds to students’ needs and their expectations for more student space. The 27 John St building is being redeveloped into a new ‘LateLab’ study space and will have an accessible kitchen, common room and dining spaces. 

“Like any construction, it’s going to be a little disruptive,” she said.

“I think most of the students have been of the mind that this is a small inconvenience for a great new space that we have on campus.”

With completion set for early 2025, the new 24/7 LateLab will offer about 20 per cent more capacity to work and study compared to the existing study space below the library. 

Ms Brient’s team have worked closely with student representatives from the University Council, the Gender Agenda, and the Swinburne Association for Accessibility.

“We also had some online workshops that we did through Teams, we did online surveys, even social media for students to vote in polls through Instagram stories, DM us with their thoughts or e-mail us with their thoughts. It really was making sure that we were giving students every opportunity to have as much input as they wanted to,” she said.