{"id":661069,"date":"2026-05-10T03:25:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T03:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661069\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T03:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T03:25:20","slug":"new-74-million-building-partly-funded-by-rothwell-family-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661069\/","title":{"rendered":"New $74 million building partly funded by Rothwell family donation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Like many architects, Susan and Garry Rothwell found love in the Brutalist grey concrete of the Wilkinson building at the University of Sydney, with vivid memories of being immersed in ideas and talking late into the night.<\/p>\n

Sixty years after meeting as students, including 57 years of marriage, Susan, a practising architect, said she was happy to say they still shared a passion for how architecture can shape lives, how cities works and what good design meant.<\/p>\n

This passion has prompted the Rothwell Family Foundation to give the university $40 million to support a new $74 million building to provide the same opportunities for future students.<\/p>\n

\"SusanSusan and Garry Rothwell pictured in North Sydney following the announcement of their gift to the University of Sydney. They chose the location because they admire the new Victoria Cross metro station.Oscar Colman<\/p>\n

Garry said that when he walked through the campus he remembered where \u201cthey\u2019d studied, debated, put on architecture reviews and imagined what sort of architects \u2013 and people \u2013 we might become\u201d.<\/p>\n

It felt \u201clike a full circle moment\u201d to think they were creating a new building for the next generation of architecture, design and planning students.<\/p>\n

A former practising architect, and founder of the family\u2019s property development company, the Winten Property Group, Garry said the new 2000-square-metre school aimed to \u201cthoughtfully integrate\u201d with the 67-year-old Wilkinson building.<\/p>\n

But the old building is no longer big enough to meet increased demand.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe University of Sydney\u2019s Brutalist Wilkinson building will be part of a larger precinct.University of Sydney <\/p>\n

The dean of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, Professor Donald McNeill, said enrolments across the three disciplines had risen 145 per cent in the past 10 years. The university will fund the balance of the project.<\/p>\n

As part of the changes, McNeill said the profile of the Wilkinson building\u2019s gallery space, the much loved Tin Sheds on City Road, would be strengthened.<\/p>\n

To create a larger Architecture, Design and Planning precinct, the new building will be constructed on the site of existing greenhouses on Maze Crescent behind the Wilkinson building. The space between the old and new will become a gathering space for students.<\/p>\n

\"TinTin Sheds art gallery in the Wilkinson building at Sydney University in 1989.Dean Wilmot\/Fairfax Media<\/p>\n

McNeill said the new building would be dedicated entirely to teaching and studio spaces, encouraging students to collaborate.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s alumni include many of the country\u2019s most celebrated architects, including Camilla Block, Elizabeth Carpenter, Louise Cox, Philip Cox, Richard Leplastrier, Penelope Seidler, Imants Tillers, Philip Thalis, Peter Tonkin and Hannah Tribe.<\/p>\n

Susan said architecture at Sydney had been intellectually demanding, yet deeply human \u2013 and the degree had opened their eyes to the world. \u201cIt taught us how to observe, how to think visually and spatially, and how to question assumptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JenniferJennifer McMaster, a founder of Trias architecture, studied architecture at the University of Sydney. Steven Siewert<\/p>\n

That rings true with the cofounder of architecture and design studio Trias, Jennifer McMaster, 2024\u2019s winner of the Australian Institute of Architects\u2019 national emerging architect prize.<\/p>\n

A graduate of the University of Sydney, and a practice educator in architecture in the faculty, she said the school had always had an idealistic program that was about leadership and problem-solving.<\/p>\n

It brought like-minded people together. It was where she met her husband, Jonathon Donnelly, a director of Trias, and Casey Bryant, its third founder: \u201cWe fell in love with architecture there, and this love is the DNA of our practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JulieJulie Power<\/a> is a senior reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-661069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}