Murdoch University has announced the appointment of architectural firm Woods Bagot to design the new Harry Butler Science Centre.

Murdoch University Vice Chancellor, Professor Andrew Deeks, said Woods Bagot was chosen following a competitive tender process.

“Woods Bagot is a highly respected global design practice but has a local presence here in Western Australia and knowledge of our unique environment,” Professor Deeks said.

“We were attracted to the fact their designers place human experience at the centre of the design process to deliver inclusive, sustainable future-oriented projects that respond to the way people use space, and flexibly accommodate changes to come.”

Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Harry Butler Institute at Murdoch University, Professor Simon McKirdy, said the biggest challenge facing humanity is to develop a sustainable global society which can survive for millennia without destroying the fragile ecosystem of our planet. 

Murdoch University's edict in sustainability is to create such solutions for a better and more sustainable world.”
Professor Simon McKirdy

“The 2021 State of the Environment report noted that significant changes over the past five years in environmental conditions have led to abrupt deterioration in ecological systems. 

“Our inability to adequately manage pressures will continue to result in species extinctions and further deterioration which are reducing the environmental capital on which current and future economies depend. 

“The Harry Butler Science Centre will be a hub for innovation in sustainability and a place for community, industry and academia to collaborate to provide scientific solutions that protect our planet while achieving the coexistence of human development and biodiversity.”

“We are looking forward to progressing this important project, which will be integral to our goal of being a leading university in education, teaching and translational research in sustainability, and creating solutions for a better and more sustainable world.”

The Harry Butler Science Centre is jointly funded my Murdoch University and the Australian Government.