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Flinders celebrates anniversary with new $63m Hub

A state-of-the-art $63 million Student Hub and Plaza will be officially opened this year as a highlight of Flinders University’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Jan 08, 2016, updated Jan 08, 2016

Flinders Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling says the development is at the heart of the most substantial transformation of facilities in the university’s history.

“The Hub’s cutting-edge design is influenced by the latest research, which demonstrates that the best education occurs when students learn from each other – discussing, challenging, debating and testing ideas,” he says.

“This inspirational environment will support and stimulate collaborative learning activities by providing comfortable spaces equipped with the latest technology, offering students a modern, rich and rewarding learning experience,” Professor Stirling says, adding some of the design ideas came from Flinders’ own students and staff.

The facility will also usher in a new era of community engagement, with a range of dining experiences designed to ensure the Hub is as welcoming and accessible to the local community and visitors as it is to students and staff.

Advertiser Chef of the Year Paul Baker of Blanco Food and Events has chosen the Hub’s svelte lines and ocean views as the home for a sophisticated new restaurant, Alere, while acclaimed CBD eatery Parwana Afghan Kitchen is coming to the Hub’s ground-level food court, and trend leaders Burger Theory (run by Flinders alumni Dan Mendelson and Robert Dean) will run the bar.

The Hub will also be home to the Flinders University Student Association, clubs and societies, and a centrally located restaurant and retail precinct, including a pharmacy, post office and travel agent.

The adjacent 2000-seat terraced amphitheatre features a giant 6.5 x 3.5m LED super screen, and will host everything from moonlight cinema to Adelaide Fringe events. Project managers don’t know of another university with a screen of this size, which compares to that at the Adelaide Oval.

Like its namesake, British naval explorer Captain Matthew Flinders who first circumnavigated Australia, the University has built an impressive record of achievement based on a strong sense of learning and scientific discovery in a wide range of disciplines.

Flinders was founded in 1966 on the values of social justice and equity. It offers learning opportunities for students from a broad range of backgrounds – both on-campus in South Australia and off-campus – offering outreach to Australian Indigenous communities, including medical training in the Northern Territory, to partner universities in China, Singapore and a growing number of overseas countries.

Who’s been on campus lately to check out the new Flinders Hub? Share your pics with us by using #flindershub

A photo posted by Flinders University (@flindersuniversity) on

From an original staff of 90 catering to 400 students, Flinders today has more than 2,000 academics and more than 24,000 students. In 1966 the campus was 370 acres (150 hectares) of open, hilly land. Its footprint now reaches from Bedford Park, Tonsley and CBD facilities in Adelaide to Darwin, Alice Springs and 10 regional centres in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria.

The opening of the modern, new facility at the Tonsley innovation district south of Adelaide last year marked the next phase of achievement and transformation at Flinders.

“The program of 50th anniversary events offers many opportunities for the extended Flinders family to join together in marking this milestone, as well as allowing us to showcase our strengths and our capabilities,” says Professor Stirling.

The University’s global reputation for research is on the rise, with Flinders included in the world’s top 2% of universities in 2015 and improvements across the board in the latest Excellence in Research Achievement rankings in Australia.

The appointment of 12 Matthew Flinders Fellowships for the 50th year will expand the University’s impressive record for outstanding research which is making a difference in many fields of excellence.

For more information go to the 50th website www.50.flinders.edu.au

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