New College Village News

NCV Christmas Service

2011-12-12T23:02:00.000+11:00

Some of the residents who attended

The 2011 NCV Christmas Service was held in the Main Common Room on Monday 12th December. This provided an opportunity for residents to gather and consider the meaning behind the Christmas season. The Master of New College and New College Village, Prof. Trevor Cairney, spoke on Luke 19:1-10, not a passage which people regularly associate with Christmas but one that speaks directly to the reason for Jesus’ earthly ministry . Trevor drew some important conclusions from the passage, challenging residents to look beyond the Christmas narrative and instead to consider the person of Jesus and the claims that he made.

The Master adds the star to the tree

During the service the Dean of NCV, Dr John Quinn, also gave some historical background to the traditions around Christmas time: the use of conifers as Christmas trees, the tradition of decorating trees with baubles and lights, and the origin of the term “carol” to describe Christmas songs. NCV’s always-able musicians led the residents in some well-known Christmas carols: “Silent Night”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Once in Royal David’s City”, “O Holy Night”, “Joy To The World” and “O Come All Ye Faithful”. To finish the evening residents joined together in decorating the NCV Christmas Tree and enjoyed some traditional Christmas food: pannetone, Christmas cake, and fruit mince pies. Two residents, Tim Amos and Laura Sharpe brought along a most impressive gingerbread house which they had made to share. It was an impressive structure, and delicious, too! As always, the NCV Christmas Service was a great way to start the holiday season with the NCV family!

Thanksgiving at NCV

2011-11-25T22:56:00.000+11:00

Some of the residents enjoying Thanksgiving

NCV is home to students from all over the world, including quite a few from the United States of America. At Thanksgiving time (25th November), a group of our residents (led by Melissa Duell and Michael Sturm) put together a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for the NCV community. This was of great interest to the local residents, as Thanksgiving is not really celebrated in Australia. The dinner had all the Thanksgiving essentials: turkey, cranberry sauce, roast vegetables, sweet potato, pumpkin pie and apple pie. Pumpkin pie is a rarity in Australia, but once residents overcame their apprehensions they enjoyed a delicious treat.

Dr Quinn enjoying Thanksgiving

This was our second Thanksgiving dinner at NCV, with the event becoming something of a favorite on the NCV Social Calendar. As last year, Thanksgiving at NCV gave some fantastic glimpses into American culture – yet another benefit of living in a diverse and enriching community.

NCV Formal Dinner

2011-10-13T22:46:00.002+11:00

Professor Jane McAdam

At the last Formal Dinner for the year on 13th October 2011, the guest speaker was Professor Jane McAdam. Prof McAdam is a prominent Australian legal academic with research interests in international refugee law, international human rights law, forced migration, and displacement due to climate change. In addition to her duties at UNSW, Prof McAdam is also a consultant to the UNHCR on the international law aspects of climate-related displacement. She has also worked on a variety of projects for the European Union, Green Cross Australia, the Refugee Review Tribunal, Amnesty International and the Refugee Council of Australia. Having Prof McAdam speak to the NCV community at a time in Australian history when both climate change and asylum seeker policy were in the news was a great privilege.

Prof McAdam began her talk with some reflections on the importance of research and the benefits of pursuing a research career. She went on to talk about her own research, giving residents a window into some of the important and interesting questions around environmental refugees. The talk generated a lot of interest, prompting a number of questions from the floor and spirited after-dinner conversation.

At the dinner we were also fortunate to have resident Christopher Chen play the piano for us. Christopher is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and is currently completing postgrad studies in information technology at UNSW. On the night, Christopher demonstrated his considerable piano skills by playing the Edvard Grieg’s Sonata Op. 7, 2nd Movement.

NCV Music Night

2011-08-19T18:05:00.001+10:00

Asst Dean Viv Shek on Cello

On Friday 19^th August the NCV community gathered in NCV’s Main Common Room for the second Annual NCV Music Night. The evening was organized by the NCV Music Association which oversees the NCV Choir and NCV Chamber Orchestra.

To open the night we were treated to a medley of songs from Les Miserables, performed by the NCV Choir. After this resident Armin Chitizadeh performed a piece called “Morning Bird” on a santour, a Persian instrument played by striking strings with very fine hammers. You could see people all around the room craning their necks to catch a glimpse of this unfamiliar instrument and Armin’s elegant striking.

Next up were residents Joni Mok and Serena Ma, who played a lovely piano duet arrangement of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”. After this the evening switched (briefly) to contemporary music, with resident Kevin Phang playing three pieces on guitar (Andy McKee’s “Heather’s Song”, Tommy Emmanuel’s “Mombassa” and JZ Moolman’s “Jay’s Tap”). Kevin is a completely home grown guitarist, having first picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV. On top of this he also played a piece written by a former NCV resident in JZ Moolman.

Following a short interval where residents enjoyed some drinks and nibbles, resident Hsuan Tan played two pieces on piano: Paul de Senneville’s “Triste Coeur” and “Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You” (by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin). Hsuan is a talented pianist who is currently undertaking a Master of Optometry. Following Hsuan, Master of Design student Kay Chen gave a great recital of Bach’s Sonata 1035 in E minor on flute. For her performance Kay was accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano.

Performers on the night

The next items were vocal. Friend of NCV Steven Chikazawa sang his own composition called “Providence”, and was accompanied by his cousin Tino on guitar. After this resident Theresa Crossing sang the Rick Founds song 'Lord I lift your name on high', accompanied by Vivian Shek on piano.

To finish off the evening, the NCV Music Association Chamber Orchestra played two Mozart pieces: "Oboe Quartet in F major, K.370 1st movement and Symphony No, 40 in G Minor, K550 1st movement.

At the end of the formalities many residents stayed on in the MCR, playing together, getting to know one another and generally having a good time. A great night was had by all.

NCV Formal Dinner Aug 2011

2011-08-04T18:21:00.026+10:00

Mr van Amerongen is currently the CEO of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre (SCEC), a position he has held since 1994. In addition to his responsibilities at the SCEC, Ton is also a former director of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and is an advisor to Business Events Sydney. He is also a founding director and the current treasurer of the Darling Harbour Business Association, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

At the NCV Formal Dinner, Ton spoke about his extensive career in hotel management, which had taken him to cities all across the world. He also gave an overview of his current role as CEO of the Conference and Exhibition Centre, explaining the importance of the SCEC to Sydney and NSW. Ton encouraged residents to make the most of the NCV community’s cultural diversity, arguing that the ability to work with people of many and varied cultures would stand them in good stead for the future.

We were also fortunate to have resident Wayne Yang give a piano recital for us. Wayne is one of the original members of NCV, having moved in when the building opened in 2009. On the night, Wayne showed beautiful touch playing Mozart’s Variations on "Ah! Vous-dirai-je, Maman". It was a delightful performance.

2011 Harbour Cruise

2011-07-22T17:57:00.007+10:00

Friday 22^nd July (the end of Week One) saw NCV’s annual Annual Harbour Cruise, with over a hundred residents setting sail on the “Simply Magistic” for an evening of drinks and canapés.

We did this differently to 2010 (where we had a sit-down meal), and the cocktail format seemed to work well. Residents enjoyed a selection of satay sticks, samosas, mini quiches and other canapés, with beer, wine, soft drink and juice were also included in the ticket price.

After enjoying the drinks and food, residents hit the dance floor and partied the night away.

O'Weekend was a great success at NCV

2011-07-18T17:47:00.000+10:00

At the start of each semester the NCV community welcomes its new residents with an O’Week program. The aim of the O’Week program is to help students familiarize themselves with Sydney, the University, and, most importantly, the NCV community. For Semester Two 2011 an O’Weekend program was held from Friday 15^th July – Sunday 17^th July. The program included a Trivia Night, a day trip to Circular Quay and Manly, our Annual Cultural Night and an afternoon of sports at the University Gymnasium (indoor soccer and badminton).

For the Trivia Night, residents were divided into teams alphabetically, and their knowledge of entertainment and pop culture, sport, music, history and geography was tested with a series of quiz questions. As an example, residents were challenged to name seven South American capital cities, the three types of blade used in Olympic Fencing, and the first names of cycling’s Schleck brothers. Residents’ aural skills were also tested, the challenge being to identify artists as diverse as Kate Bush, Moloko, The Jackson Five and Kelis with only a 10-20sec excerpt.

The day trip took students through the CBD to the popular tourist destination and transport hub of Circular Quay. After a few snaps in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, residents took the famous Manly Ferry to the beachside suburb of Manly, for a short walk and some hot chocolate.

The Cultural Night was a real highlight, with students showcasing their various cultures through food, dress, general info, and music. Countries represented were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. A separate post on this event will appear soon.

On the Sunday afternoon those residents keen on sports gathered for a game of indoor soccer and badminton at the University Gymnasium. This provided an opportunity both to meet NCV’s other keen sportspeople but also to check out some of the University’s sporting facilities.

Cultural Night a Great Start to Semester

2011-07-16T17:38:00.001+10:00

The NCV community is highly culturally diverse, with over 40 different nationalities represented. At present there are residents from every continent, as well as from Pacific nations such as New Zealand and French Polynesia. With such a diverse community, living at NCV provides a unique opportunity to meet people from many other places and learn about different cultures.

As part of our Semester 2 O’Weekend, NCV hosted its Annual Cultural Night. This event provided students with the opportunity to showcase their various cultures through food, dress, national symbols, general info, and music. Countries represented at the 2011 Cultural Night were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

A particular highlight was provided by those residents who donned their traditional dress for the evening. To see residents in traditional costumes from India, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh highlighted the rich multicultural tapestry of the NCV community.

New Groups Building Community Life @ NCV

2011-06-27T12:18:00.000+10:00

It has been a great thrill to see the development of a number of different groups at the NCV that have been initiated by residents with some shared interests. In recent months we have seen three new groups:

An NCV Choir
A Bollywood Dance group
The NCV Orchestra

Thank you to the initiators of these various activities and the enthusiasm of all who have helped to build these wonderful groups to enrich community life.

The NCV Choir

Bollywood Dance Group

NCV Orchestra

NCV Community Photo 2010

2011-05-31T23:00:00.000+10:00

Below is the NCV Community Photo for 2010. We took the photo on the 27th October. We chose 10.00am to take the shot and unfortunately this wasn't a time that suited some. We hope to get everyone in the photo in 2011. See who you can recognize.

NCV Community Photo 2009

2011-05-31T22:52:00.000+10:00

Below is the photo that we took in the central courtyard in 2009 to have a record of some of the people who were living in the building at the time. We asked people to rise at 8.00am on the 19th May 2009 for the photo and served a pancake breakfast cooked on the NCV BBQs afterwards. See how many people you still know.

NCV Public Lecture

2011-05-30T17:53:00.001+10:00

On Monday (18th April), historian Dr Chris Forbes from Macquarie University came to New College Village to give a public lecture on the topic “Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead”.

The event was open to anyone within the NCV and across the campus. It was attended by 70 people many of whom were Christian and some who were not. Dr Forbes drew on various sources to argue for the historicity of the resurrection. It was a fascinating and thought provoking evening for all in attendance.

Easter Choir Musical

2011-05-15T13:50:00.000+10:00

On Saturday 18th April a group of NCV residents presented a special event for Easter, the inaugural 'NCV Easter Choir Musical'. This event provided a retelling of the events around the first Easter using song and dramatic readings.

The NCV Choir

A choir made up of 14 residents performed for about 40 people, with five members of the choir doubling up to perform dramatic readings as well. The residents rehearsed weekly for five weeks leading up to the event, providing an outlet for those residents with a vocal inclination.

Premilla's creations

As with all NCV events, food is always important, and afterward those attending and performing enjoyed a delicious supper prepared by John and Premilla. Some intricately decorated chocolate cupcakes were on offer, along with toasty warm hot cross buns and chocolate Easter eggs. There was also plenty of delicious hot chocolate to go around, fresh off the stove!

Performing the Musical in the Main Common Room

NCV Formal Dinner

2011-05-03T21:34:00.000+10:00

On the 7th April the NCV community gathered for the First Formal Dinner for 2011. Formal Dinners are an important part of life at NCV, where the community hears from a distinguished person on a topic of interest to a higher education community. In 2010 the speakers had been former UNSW Deputy Chancellor Dr Jessica Milner Davis, prominent Australian businessman Dr Ian Pollard and eminent UNSW physicist Prof. Michelle Simmons. This time the invited speaker was Ms Anne Bunde-Birouste, UNSW public health academic and Founder of the Football United program for disadvantaged youth.

Anne is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. Anne’s research interests are in the areas of health promotion, social determinants of health, refugee health and post-conflict societies.

In addition to her academic responsibilities, Anne is also the Founder and Executive Director of Football United, a program which uses soccer to provide leadership development for youths and young adults in disadvantaged areas by training them as coaches and co-ordinators. The work of Football United has previously been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, on ABC Radio and on SBS Television.

As part of her presentation, Anne gave a fascinating insight into the genesis of the Football United Program, and showed a short video presentation about Football United’s participation in the 2010 Football for Hope Festival in South Africa (coinciding with the 2010 FIFA World Cup). After Anne’s address, Mark Dixon, medicine student and NCV Senior Academic Tutor moved an excellent vote of thanks to Anne for sharing her infectious passion with the NCV community.

During the evening attendees were also able to hear a beautiful piano recital by resident Michelle Kwok. Michelle is currently completing a combined degree in commerce and law at UNSW, but continues to play piano at a high level in addition to her studies. At the dinner Michelle played Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9. No.2, and Prokofiev’s Prelude Op. 12 No. 7. After Michelle’s performance, one guest remarked “It’s wonderful to hear how great pieces like this are supposed to be played, rather the way amateurs like me tried to play them when we were learning the piano”.

Japan Fundraising Concert

2011-04-25T17:52:00.000+10:00

The Japanese earthquake of the 11th March and the subsequent tsunami brought images of extraordinary destruction into living rooms all around the world. Members of the NCV community were deeply shocked at the tragedy, with several residents having family and friends in affected areas. In response to the events of 11th March, NCV resident Elina Yasumoto kindly offered to perform a fundraising concert to raise money for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Elina is an accomplished pianist, having graduated previously from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and University of Melbourne Faculty of Music. At the concert, which was held in the NCV Common Room on 28th March 2011, Elina performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor.

During the performance Phillip Shovk, who is a well known Australian pianist and a multiple prize winner at the Sydney International Piano Competition, accompanied Elina. Phillip played a piano transcription of the orchestral part of the concerto. It was a wonderful privilege to enjoy music of this caliber here at NCV, and we are very grateful to Elina for initiating the event and to Phillip for giving of his time to support this worthy cause. Residents dug deep into their pockets for the cause, with the concert raising almost $1,000 for victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

NCV BBQ March

2011-03-25T20:24:00.000+11:00

Seven times during the course of the year NCV residents gather in the courtyard for a BBQ cooked by the friendly Senior Residents. The barbecues have become an institution, providing a regular opportunity to socialize over food in an otherwise self-catered environment.

Typical NCV BBQ fare includes marinated chicken thighs, pork or beef sausages and marinated steaks. Spinach and ricotta patties are available for vegetarian residents, and a selection of salads is also available.

On some occasions the barbecue has been combined with other events, such as a table tennis competition, some theatre sports or a games evening.

At our last BBQ on the 25th March, over 150 residents gathered to enjoy great free food and good company.

The NCV barbecue will continue to be an important regular NCV event into the future.

Our First PhD Graduate

2011-03-20T15:36:00.000+11:00

I'm pleased to announce that while the NCV has only been open for just over two years, we have recently seen our first resident graduate with a PhD. Congratulations to Dr Laura Sharpe. Laura was actually the first resident I welcomed when we opened the NCV for the first time on the 4th January 2009. It seems fitting that our first resident is also the first to graduate in the PhD program.

Above (L to R): Trevor Cairney (Master), Laura Sharpe, John Quinn (Dean)

Her thesis was in the broad field of Biochemistry and was titled 'Investigating the roles of Akt targets in cholesterol regulation and protein transport'. Dr Sharpe is now working in the same laboratory as a Post Doctoral Fellow and continues to live at the New College Village. We're very proud of Laura and congratulate her on this achievement. John Quinn and I were delighted to be part of the academic procession and to be on stage when she accepted her testamur. Well done Laura.

Orientation Week 2011

2011-02-19T20:15:00.000+11:00

In 2011 NCV ran its second O’Week program, with the aim of helping residents to settle in and get to know other people. The O’Week program was organized by the Dean and Senior Residents, and included a number of different events.

The week began with two tours of Sydney. On Saturday 19th February, students set off to the Sydney Fish Markets for some delicious lunch, and then went on a walking tour to “Explore Sydney, Its Stories and Secrets”. The following day (Sunday 20th) saw students head down to Circular Quay to see the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, before taking a ferry across the Harbour to the famous Manly Beach for some ice cream.

On Monday 21st February, new residents were officially welcomed to NCV by the Master, Professor Trevor Cairney, and the Dean Dr John Quinn at a reception in the Main Common Room. After the formalities, the students joined a supper crawl, moving from floor to floor of the NCV building to meet the Senior Resident team, enjoying a different snack on each floor and meeting other residents (both new and old) as well.

The NCV Building (Sydney City in Background)

For students it’s essential to know where and when to see a good film at a cheap price. For UNSW students and NCV residents the most common destination for this is the Ritz Cinema at The Spot in Randwick on Tuesday night. So on the Tuesday of O’Week, residents gathered in the courtyard at 6 pm and headed off to the Ritz to see “The King’s Speech” at 7:10 pm. The Spot is also the place for food and dessert, so after the film residents stopped off to enjoy some coffee and cake.

On Wednesday 23rd February two events were held. Firstly, The Dean hosted a “Research Student Mixer” between 6.30 and 7.30 pm on the Roof Top Terrace. The aim of this event was to introduce the research students to each other, helping to form links between residents embarking on research degrees. This was followed by the NCV Trivia Night (8-10pm), where residents competed alongside their floormates for trivia supremacy. Level 3 carried the day, pipping Level 6 by a single point, with Level 4 a single point further behind.

NCV Residents Enjoying Cocktails

Thursday 24th February saw residents hit some of the classy cocktail bars in the city, at NCV’s Inaugural 5-Star Hotel Crawl. Destinations included the Shangri La’s Blu Bar on 36, the Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House and the ECQ Bar at Quay Grand. Residents enjoyed a quiet drink with great company and magnificent views.

On Friday 25th February the Senior Resident Team cooked up a delicious barbecue of steaks, chicken fillet, sausages and vegetarian patties. This was followed by a night of theatre sports and other games, with residents able to find their inner thespian or harness their as-to-now undiscovered comedic genius.

Lawn Bowls

Saturday afternoon saw NCVers head to Kensington Bowling Club for a quiet afternoon of Lawn Bowls. After this interested folk gathered for the Local Church Services Introduction (at 5 pm), at which the Dean gave new residents some guidance in what to look for in a new church. Residents also promoted their own congregations, and introduced some of the various ministry opportunities available within NCV. At 8 pm focus turned to the Roof Top Terrace for the Inaugural NCV Wine & Cheese Night. Along with enjoying some delicious wine and cheese, residents also had the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of wine, ranking wines in order of price and identifying varietals.

The curtain came down on O’Week 2011 with a Sunday of sport. Residents headed across to the University Gymnasium at 11 am for Badminton, basketball & Indoor Soccer. Once again, this was a great chance for residents to meet other sports-minded people, as well as check out some of the local sporting facilities.

Circular Quay at night

Christmas Day at the NCV

2011-01-04T16:23:00.001+11:00

Because the New College Village was established as a postgraduate community, and the majority of residents are overseas students, many don't leave over the traditional Christmas period.

This year over 100 residents were still around for some of the Christmas period. As a result, the residents organised a Christmas BBQ on the Rooftop Terrace.

Over 30 residents came along to enjoy the company of others on Christmas Day (25th December), to share good food and to celebrate.

It was a wonderful time for people to enjoy wonderful warm, weather and sunshine without the pressure of classes. Residents shared food and helped to cook meat on the BBQ - Aussie style!

Summer is such a wonderful time at the NCV with plenty of oppretunities to enjoy the local beaches, big events like the New Year's Eve fireworks and the Festival of Sydney that runs through most of January.

Fireworks New Year's Eve 2011 (Sydney Harbour Bridge)

2010 Christmas Service - 9th December

2010-12-16T16:17:00.000+11:00

The 2010 NCV Christmas Service was held in the Main Common Room on Thursday 9th December. This provided an opportunity for residents to gather and reflect on some of the events which occurred around the time of Jesus’ birth, and the significance of those events for people 2000 years later. The Master of New College and New College Village, Prof. Trevor Cairney, spoke on Matthew 2:1-12, a passage in the Bible which talks about the visit of the so-called Three Wise Men (more correctly, “The Magi”). The passage highlighted the response of the Magi to Jesus’ birth, and contrasted it with that of King Herod. Trevor drew some important conclusions from the passage, challenging residents to think about the real events which lay behind Christmas.

During the service the Dean of NCV, Dr John Quinn, also gave some historical background to the traditions around Christmas time: the use of conifers as Christmas trees, the tradition of decorating trees with baubles and lights, the association of red and white candy canes with Christmas and the origin of the term “carol” to describe Christmas songs. NCV’s always-able musicians led the residents in some well-known Christmas carols: “Silent Night”, “Away in a Manger”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Once in Royal David’s City”, “O Holy Night” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. To finish the evening residents joined together in decorating the NCV Christmas Tree and enjoyed some traditional Christmas food: pannetone, Christmas cake, fruit mince pies and candy canes. It was a great way to start the holiday season with the NCV family!

Science On Display

2010-12-03T21:31:00.000+11:00

The foyer in the NCV now has a wonderful exhibit that celebrates the contribution of science and scientists at UNSW. A central focus of the display is the life and work of C.J. Kit Milner- UNSW’s Chair of Applied Physics (1952-1976) and the first Dean of Science.

Staff from New College and UNSW, together with family & friends of Kit Milner attended a morning tea on 24 September 2010 to view the new Kit Milner Scientific Instruments Display. The informal gathering included 3 generations of Milners, UNSW Archives staff, past and present senior UNSW academics, including the current Dean of Science, Prof. Merlin Crossley.

Above: Members of the Milner Family

The exhibition includes is a wall display covering some of the significant events Milner experienced while working at the UNSW School of Physics and a separate display cabinet housing personal artefacts highlighting Milner’s student life, work, literary interests and Christian faith. The physical display is also complemented by a virtual display that you will find HERE.

Above: Dr Jessica Milner Davis, daughter of Kit Milner

There were several short speeches from the College Master, Prof. Trevor Cairney and family members. Trevor outlined how the exhibit evolved over a couple of years with various people involved in the project throughout that time. The concept for an exhibit originated from the College’s desire to acknowledge the Milner family’s contributions to New College Village and recognise academics of UNSW’s past whose work shaped the university as we know today. There was special significance in NCV being home to such an exhibition as the site on which it stands was once home to the University's collection of historical scientific instruments.

Guests were also given an introduction to web pages of the exhibit on a large screen. The website also includes additional material not in the exhibit.

Following the speeches, guests wandered through the NCV foyer viewing the exhibit and scientific instruments. It was an enjoyable time for family and friends to catch up and reminisce.

Thanksgiving - 25th November

2010-11-25T16:16:00.000+11:00

NCV is home to students from all over the world, including quite a few from the United States of America and Canada. At Thanksgiving time, a group of our American residents (led by Anetra Moore and Jaye Del Rosario) put together a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for the NCV community. This was of great interest to the local residents, as in Australia there is no Thanksgiving celebration. In fact, such was the dearth of Thanksgiving-related products in Australia that many of the decorations were ordered in from the United States! The dinner had all the Thanksgiving essentials: turkey, cranberry sauce, roast vegetables, sweet potato, pumpkin and apple pie.

During dinner Anetra gave a short presentation about the origins of the Thanksgiving, which dates back to 1621. There were also a number of interesting “Thanksgiving Facts” presented: we learnt that Minnesota is the top Turkey-producing state of the US, while Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington lead the way on cranberry production. Residents also learnt about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Black Friday shopping specials and the host of football games that fall on Thanksgiving. Anetra and Dino then showed a short clip of the Presidential Turkey Pardon, one of the more unusual Thanksgiving traditions. Thanksgiving at NCV gave some fantastic glimpses into American culture – yet another benefit of living in a diverse and enriching community.

Carols by Candlelight - 18th November

2010-11-18T16:15:00.000+11:00

Unlike the in Northern Hemisphere, in Australia Christmas time falls in summer. Instead of snow, Christmas is associated with warm sunny days, long daylight hours, and the long school holidays. As a result, many activities around Christmas will be held outside. Families enjoy barbecues together, play some outdoor games, go to the beach and generally enjoy the fantastic Sydney weather.

One activity which is held in communities all around Australia is “Carols By Candlelight”. At “Carols By Candlelight” people gather outdoors around dusk and sing Christmas songs together. To help them see the lyrics, people hold candles as they sing. “Carols By Candlelight” events are generally organized by churches, groups of churches or local councils. A typical event might also include a talk about the birth of Jesus, a visit by Santa Claus, fireworks or a performance by a local band or well-known singer. The two most famous examples of “Carols By Candlelight” are those held in The Domain in Sydney on the Saturday before Christmas Day, and at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on Christmas Eve.

In 2010 NCV held its own “Carols By Candlelight” for the first time. A talented group of NCV musicians prepared a program of Christmas songs including “The 12 Days of Christmas”, “Silver Bells”, “O Holy Night”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” and “Silent Night”, to name but a small selection of the songs sung. Candles were distributed and people enjoyed a warm, late spring evening singing traditional songs and hymns about Christmas. Midway through the evening the program paused so that students could enjoy some food a drink together. After this the band were then kind enough to take requests, singing some resident’s favorite songs late into the evening.

November Drinks & Canapes

2010-11-15T16:12:00.000+11:00

To finish off the year in style the NCV community gathered after the final exams for a Drinks and Canapés Evening in the Main Common Room. Of course, being a postgraduate community one of the unique features of life at NCV is that it never really stops – there is no “end” per se to the year’s events. That said, for the significant number of NCV residents doing coursework programs the exams had finished on 15th November and so there were plenty of reasons to celebrate!

Students enjoyed a couple of drinks and a host of delicious short eats: spring rolls, cheese and spinach triangles, falafels, Cajun prawns, vol au vents, sausage rolls, vegetable sticks, corn chips and dips. The Dean of NCV Dr John Quinn made a few short remarks about the great year which NCV had enjoyed. Dr Quinn posed the question “what makes for a great year?” and answered it with three key ingredients: great events, great staff and great residents. Dr Quinn paid special tribute to the Academic Tutors, Senior Residents, office staff and maintenance staff for all the great work they did responding to the various needs of the community.

The night continued on until about 9:30 pm, when the lights suddenly went up and the piano was opened. A group of residents gathered to rehearse for the next NCV event – Carols By Candlelight. So much for “the end of the year”!! As noted above community life continues at NCV the whole year around.

NCV Oct Formal Dinner

2010-10-13T16:10:00.001+11:00

On the 13th October the NCV community gathered for the final Formal Dinner for 2010. So far in 2010 we had heard from former UNSW Deputy Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor Dr Jessica Milner-Davis and prominent Australian businessman and actuary Dr Ian Pollard. This time it was the scientists’ and engineers’ turn to have the spotlight.

On 13th October the NCV community welcomed eminent physicist Prof. Michelle Simmons from UNSW’s School of Physics. Prof. Simmons is currently the Director of the Centre for Quantum Computing Technology and the Director of UNSW’s Atomic Fabrication Facility. Her research involves the development of novel electronic devices at the atomic scale. Michelle spoke of her research group’s investigations into the development of quantum computing technology, with its promise of providing an exponential increase in processor speeds. The mixed audience of scientists and non-scientists could clearly appreciate the significance of Michelle’s research and its implications in a wide variety of fields which depend on ever-faster computers. Libin George, PhD student in the School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications moved an excellent vote of thanks expressing the community’s appreciation for having heard from such a distinguished scientist.

During the evening the NCV community was also fortunate to hear two pieces performed by resident Elina Yasumoto. Elina is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Music, and is currently completing her Juris Doctor degree in UNSW’s Faculty of Law. Elina played two pieces at the dinner, Franz Liszt’s “Gondoliera” and Australian composer Miriam Hyde’s “Study in Blue, White and Gold”. They were fabulous performances.

NCV Cultural Night

2010-10-12T19:41:00.000+11:00

The NCV community is highly culturally diverse, with 50 different nationalities represented. At present there are residents from every continent, as well as from a number of island nations such as Mauritius, American Samoa and Fiji. With such a diverse community, living at NCV provides a unique opportunity to meet people from many other places and learn about cultures which are quite distinct from one’s own.

As part of our “O’Weekend” for semester 2, NCV hosted its inaugural Cultural Night. This evening provided an opportunity to taste food from a number of different countries, as well as hear music from all over the world. Countries represented included India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Chile, Korea and Japan. A wide variety of food was available for tasting, including savory snacks, main courses and sweets. For the new and returning residents who attended the evening, Cultural Night 2010 provided a unique glimpse into life in distant places. Of course, students also had the chance to try some local Australian favorites such as pavlova and lamingtons. There was even an opportunity to taste the popular Australian spread “Vegemite”, something only a few residents were courageous enough to try!

A particular highlight was provided by Senior Resident Karthigan Balasubramaniam, who, with the help of some Sri Lankan friends, performed some traditional drumming. There was also an opportunity to be dressed in a sari for a portrait. The night was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

African Night

2010-09-25T22:12:00.002+10:00

NCV is home to students from 50 different nations. Included among these are a number of residents from Africa, and in particular from Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda & Egypt. On the 17th September, a group of our African students hosted the inaugural “NCV Africa Night”, which was aimed at showcasing the art, culture, language, music and food of the African continent.

To start the evening, residents were welcomed in the local languages of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius. This was followed by an opportunity to enjoy some of the sumptuous food which had been prepared by the organising team. Lyz Murago and Wangari Muchiri, both from Kenya, introduced all the different dishes with some background on what they were made from and how to eat them.

Once residents were settled with their food, the African students performed a short drama based on an traditional African folktale about the origin of thunder. This was followed by a sing-along in Swahili, which was introduced to the attendees by Senior Academic Tutor Mark Dixon, who had formerly worked in Africa aboard one of the Mercy Ships. Patience Mbabazi, from Uganda, then explained some of the traditional jewellery of Africa.

The night continued with poetry, African tea and coffee, music and dance. To conclude the night, everyone joined in for an “African Shuffle”. It was fantastic to leave the evening knowing a bit more about where many of our residents come from. It is hoped that there will be more opportunities to showcase different ethnic groups and nationalities of NCV at similar events in the future.

Above: Residents of NCV doing the African Shuffle

NCV Sept Formal Dinner

2010-09-02T16:00:00.000+10:00

On the 2nd September the NCV community gathered for the second Formal Dinner for 2010. Formal Dinners are an important part of life at NCV, where the community hears from a distinguished person on a topic of interest to a higher education community. In June we had heard from former UNSW Deputy Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor Dr Jessica Milner-Davis. This time the invited speaker was Dr Ian Pollard, well-known Australian businessman and actuary.

Dr Pollard is currently the Chairman of Corporate Express Australia Limited and a Director of Milton Corporation Limited, having previously been the Chairman of Just Group Limited (which incorporates the well known retailer “Just Jeans”). Ian has also been a director of the major Australian insurer GIO and the spectacle retailer OPSM.

Drawing from his broad background in corporate finance and advice, private equity investment and public company governance, Dr Pollard gave a fantastic address which was full of advice for those starting out on careers in business. One piece of advice which was particularly memorable was to be aware of the difference between obtaining five years’ experience and obtaining one years’ experience five times over. Dr Pollard also advised residents to prepare well for meetings and make the most of opportunities presented to them. To hear from such a successful businessman was a great treat. After Ian’s address, Nipun Seth, MBA student in the Australian Graduate School of Management moved an excellent vote of thanks to Dr Pollard for sharing his wisdom and experiences with the NCV community.

During the evening attendees were also able to hear a beautiful piano recital by resident Yvonne Chow. Yvonne is currently completing her Masters in Organisational Psychology in UNSW’s Faculty of Science, but continues to play piano at a high level in addition to her studies. At the dinner Yvonne played Franz Liszt’s “Lieberstraum No. 3”, her performance prompting enthusiastic compliments from Dr Pollard and the Master Prof. Trevor Cairney.

NCV Music Night

2010-08-27T18:59:00.000+10:00

On the 27th August NCV hosted its Inaugural Music Night, which featured a range of different instrumental and vocal pieces performed by NCV residents. The evening was preceded by some drinks and nibbles in the main common room, after which residents settled in for an evening of fine music.
To start the night, a choir of NCV residents sang the Jay Althouse & Sally Albrecht song “I am a small part of the world.” This was followed by the woodwind & string ensemble of Vivian Shek, Serena Ma, Kay Chen and Diane Wong, who played pieces by Haydn and Mozart. They also played one of Serena’s own compositions, “To Pop the Question”, demonstrating that NCV residents can not only play, they can also compose!

The next items were performed by resident Elina Yasumoto, who is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Music. Elina played the “Regard No. X: Le Regard de l’Espirit de Joie” (from Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant Jesus”) followed by “Etude-tableau Op.39 no.5 in E-flat minor” by Rachmaninoff. Elina also explained some of the history of the pieces before performing them, which was informative for those residents unfamiliar with the nomenclature around piano music.

In the next phase of the evening there were a series of guitar pieces performed by Kevin Phang, Roma Singhal and Sharon McGowan, punctuated by a Japanese item, “Niji”, performed by Mark Dixon (vocals), Diane Wong (piano), and Serena Ma (violin). Kevin played two pieces by contemporary guitarist Andy McKee (“Art of Motion” & “Rylynn”) while Sharon sang the Parachute Band’s “Salvation Song”. Kevin is a completely home grown guitarist, having first picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV, and having been initially taught by another resident! Completing this bank of songs were Roma Singhal and Sharon McGowan, who played guitar while singing a medley of contemporary songs. Sharon and Roma involved the whole audience, who sang along to familiar tunes such as The Cranberries’ “Zombie”, The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”.

To conclude the night Elina returned to play Liszt’s Tarantella from “Venezia e Napoli”. During the performance the Dean’s six month old daughter Indumathi snuck down the front to watch Elina’s flying fingers. It was a fitting end to a fabulous evening, showcasing the incredible depth of talent of NCV residents.

Supporting Research Students at NCV

2010-07-25T13:32:00.000+10:00

Currently New College Village is home to many students undertaking either PhD degrees or Masters degrees by research. Additionally, many other students who are undertaking coursework programs complete a minor or major thesis as part of their program. To support these students, NCV runs a monthly Research Student Group.

The aims of the Research Student Group are:

to encourage the researchers to socialize with other people having similar experiences;
to hear about different students’ research; and
be equipped for a career in research.

Each meeting includes a short time for having a drink and some nibbles, followed by a research presentation from one of our residents and a “skills” presentation by a relevant expert. The meetings are typically attended by 20-30 students.

So far this year we have had a number of seminars aimed at giving our residents a helping hand on the road to a career in academe. At one meeting, a panel of upper year PhD students shared their wisdom on “Surviving the First Year of a PhD”. The panel was made up of students studying in different areas - Naadir Junaid (Faculty of Arts), Laura Sharpe (Faculty of Science) and James Lam (Faculty of Engineering) - and so there were a wide range of perspectives presented.

Other presentations have included:

Ms Janice Besch (Director of the UNSW Grants Management Office), delivered a presentation entitled “An Overview of the Australian Research Grants System”. Ms Besch’s presentation included some invaluable tips for anyone embarking on a research career.

The Dean of Residents at NCV Dr John Quinn drew on his earlier experience in intellectual property to present on “Protecting Your Inventions: Inside the Patent Process”.

Associate Professor Sue Starfield from the UNSW Learning Centre gave our residents some invaluable advice on “What Thesis Examiner’s Look For”. Sue’s presentation was full of helpful tips for those facing the daunting task of writing a thesis.

An exciting lineup of speakers have been arranged for coming meetings. A/Prof. Sebastien Perrier from the University of Sydney will provide the students with some tips on getting a high impact publication, Prof. Christine Alexander from UNSW’s Faculty of Arts will share some insights for those setting out on a a career in academia and alumnus Dr Ben Waterhouse will speak about setting up your own consultancy after completing postgraduate research.

To finish off the year the Master of New College, Professor Trevor Cairney will draw on his extensive experience as a supervisor of postgraduate research to advise on how best to get along with your PhD supervisor. A presentation not to be missed!

Additionally, we have also heard a wonderful series of presentations by our own students on their varied and exciting research. Students at NCV are currently undertaking research on topics as diverse as housing issues in Malaysia through to cancer mechanisms, Bengali political cinema and data structures. We look forward to an interesting semester as we support and encourage our students undertaking research degrees.

NCV Formal Dinner

2010-06-15T09:00:00.001+10:00

Three times each year NCV residents gather for a Formal Dinner. These events involve a three course meal, a musical item (or two) and a speech on a topic of interest to a higher education community. The evenings typically go into the night as residents enjoy coffee and conservation, not to mention a photograph or two!

At the last Formal Dinner, the guest speaker was Dr Jessica Milner Davis. Dr Davis is currently an Honorary Associate in the School of Letters, Art and Media at the University of Sydney, where she pursues research in the broad field of humour studies. Prior to this, Dr Davis was a long-standing member of the UNSW Council, during which she also served as Deputy Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor. Dr Davis was also a former President of the UNSW Alumni Association and a former member of the New College Board.

At the NCV Formal Dinner, Dr Davis spoke about three remarkable English women who were pioneers in science and mathematics, one of whom was her paternal grandmother. The talk provided a fascinating insight into times past, with Dr Davis showing many early photographs. It was particularly interesting to hear how the number of women completing science degrees had evolved over the last century, and how the various policies around women in universities had evolved for the better.

At the dinner we were also fortunate to have resident Kevin Phang play the guitar for us. Kevin is a completely home-grown guitarist, having picked up the instrument while a resident at NCV. On the night, Kevin demonstrated his skills by playing the famed Mason Williams tune “Classical Gas”, and the Andy McKee composition “Drifting”.

NCV Harbour Cruise

2010-04-23T15:45:00.006+10:00

The New College Village is more than just wonderful air-conditioned ensuite accommodation on campus. The beautiful building that people recognise as the New College Village is home to a community of 315 University of New South Wales students. The residents are drawn for 50+ countries and are primarily postgraduate students.

The NCV Staff and Senior residents provide care and support in many forms. The aim is to provide a safe and supportive place where students can live and learn while they make friends from all over the world.

To help make this happen we run varied social activities that offer opportunities for residents to get to know one another in relaxed and non-threatening ways.

Last night the NCV had its inaugural Sydney Harbour Cruise for over 110 residents. This was a wonderful 4 hour cruise of one of the world's most beautiful harbours. Dinner was provided as was a DJ who provided music for residents to dance to.

It was a wonderful night that was enjoyed by all.

NCV O'Week Activities 2010

2010-02-22T15:12:00.014+11:00

While our predominantly postgraduate residents arrive at different times, we have planned an extensive O'Week program to help orient everyone to the community and University life.

The program started on Sunday with a 'Sampling Tour' of beautiful Sydney. This involved taking public transport to the city and touring all the sites before taking a ferry across the harbour to the famous Many Beach area. The residents who went had a fantastic time.

Over the rest of the week we have many other great events planned.

Monday (8-10pm)

Dean's introduction to NCV life and Pancakes for supper

Tuesday (12-2pm)

Treasure Hunt in the Local Area to discover all the key shops, resources and places of interest near to the NCV and the campus.

Wednesday Night

Research Student 'mixer (6.30-7.30pm)
Trivia Night (8-10pm)

Thursday (8-10.30pm)

Movie Night Under the Stars in the NCV Courtyard

Friday (4-8.30pm)

Bush Dance ('Currency Lads' band) and BBQ

Saturday

Lawn Bowls at Kensington Bowling Club (2-4pm)
Badminton & Indoor Soccer (6-8pm)
Local Church Services Introduction (5pm)

Sunday

Floor by Floor Activities - Each floor to have its own social activity

First Combined Supper for 2010

2010-01-12T21:31:00.000+11:00

The New College Village places a high priority on community activities, pastoral care and academic support. One of our many activities is a regular combined supper every Monday night at 9.00pm. These are hosted by the Senior Residents on each floor. Every month we have a combined supper in the Main Common Room or the Central Courtyard.

Last we held our first combined supper for 2010. This was a great chance for the residents to meet the new live-in Dean and his wife. Dr John Quinn and Dr Premilla Quinn moved into the building on the 1st January 2010. Carmen and Trevor moved out of the building just before Christmas. Trevor has gone back to being the Master (CEO) of New College and the NCV. Trevor will still be involved at the NCV (and helped to cook the pancakes last night). Carmen will also attend as many events as she can.

Above: John & Premilla at supper last night at the NCV

Dr Quinn comes with an interesting background. He is a graduate of UNSW and lived in New College for 8 years (1995-2002), including periods as a Senior Resident, Assistant Dean and Acting Dean. He completed his PhD in 2002 through the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design at UNSW. After he left UNSW he was appointed as a Research Fellow at Melbourne University in the Dept of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2003-2007). From 2007 to the present he has been working as Technical Assistant & Trade Marks Attorney at Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys. John is married to Premilla who is an anaesthetist by profession and is also expecting their first child in the next few months.

Above: NCV Residents enjoying the pancakes

NCV Christmas Aussie BBQ

2009-12-30T13:48:00.006+11:00

Because the NCV is mainly for postgraduate students the building is never without residents or staff. In this our first year, over 60 residents were still in the building over Christmas. As a result Carmen and I hosted a Christmas BBQ in the main Common Room for those who were still here and weren't sharing the day with relatives or friends in Australia.

We had a fairly typical Aussie lunch:

Halal steak (this isn't typically Australian, but NCV has some Muslim residents so we always cater with Halal meat), lamb, chicken, and beef sausages
Great salads (some Cairney specials - thanks Carmen!)
Aussie Pavlova (made by Carmen) and traditional Christmas pudding cooked by Trevor and his daughter Louise (a family tradition)

We had about 25 who turned up for lunch and it was a very special time together.

Above: Carmen's Aussie Pavlova and traditional English Pudding (on the side)

We hope that every friend of New College as well as alumni and current residents have a lovely Christmas and New Year.

Christmas Carols at NCV

2009-12-02T07:26:00.013+11:00

Above: Mark & Patrick enjoying the carols

On Monday night residents of NCV shared in a traditional Christmas Carols service in the Main Common Room. Residents gathered to sing traditional songs, hear Bible passages read that tell the Christmas story, hear a brief message from the Master, decorate the NCV Christmas tree then share hot pancakes and maple syrup cooked on the BBQ.

This was a wonderful night enjoyed by people of all the many faiths represented in the building as well as some who hold to no faith position. Just another example of what a wonderful community life we have at the NCV.

Above: The music team leading us in carol singing

Above: Sue and Lauren decorating the tree

Above: Some of the guys decorating the tree and sharing a pancake (cooked by the Master)

Above: One resident's decoration (Christmas always points to Easter)

End of Year Drinks and Canapes

2009-11-19T07:44:00.001+11:00

It's hard to know when the year ends at the NCV. Some residents don't leave at this time but simply keep working on their research. However, many of the coursework masters students and medicine students end earlier. To mark the fact that some were leaving in November we held a drinks and canapes night for all residents (free of course!). The night included fine finger food served by the New College caterers, great conversation and a brief word from the Master to farewell some people and thank everyone for the wonderful first year that we have had at the NCV. This type of event will be run regularly next year to complement our regular free BBQs on a Friday evening.

Above: Some of our residents and staff enjoying the night

Above: Our Chef Manager (Daniel) on the left serving residents some of the food he had prepared

Above: Residents enjoying the evening

NCV October Formal Dinner

2009-10-08T08:00:00.001+11:00

We had another wonderful formal dinner in October for over 100 residents of the NCV. These dinners occur approximately four times per year and are open (free of charge) to all residents. We had a wonderful three course meal, entertainment was provided by one of our residents (Arun Jothidas) and we have a distinguished guest speaker. Our guest at the October dinner was Mary Jo Capps the CEO of Musica Viva, which is Australia's largest supporter and promoter of intimate concert experiences, presenting approximately 2,500 concerts each year in Australia and around the world. Mary Jo gave us a wonderful overview of the history of Musica Viva as well as telling us about her own career development.

Above: Some of our residents enjoying dinner together

Above: Residents chatting after the dinner was over

Above: Anusha, Rosita, Hafiz, Faris, Trevor (Master of NCV), Karen, Niloufer and Dana

The Importance of Community: Why the NCV is special

2009-09-22T20:35:00.000+10:00

New College Village is more than just a place to live; it is a place where people make friends for life, where you will find academic support, and where the Senior Resident team led by Carmen and me will support you when struggling in any way. There are a number of ways that this type of community is shaped:

1. We have an excellent team of Senior Residents (see my previous post here) who do after hours duty, get to know everyone on their floors, plan social activities, and look out for everyone.

2. We have an excellent team of 6 Academic Tutors who offer advice and support in relation to life on campus, how to negotiate and understand the various academic programs and courses at UNSW, where to go for academic help, rules and regulations about study at UNSW, and general advice about writing, research and meeting University assessment requirements.

3. The ethos of NCV is reflective of the history of care and concern for residents modelled at New College over 40 years. This is led by the Master and the Dean.

4. We have an air conditioned building designed to support community with many common areas, courtyards, a games room, a business centre, reading room, main common room with piano for the musical and so on.

5. We have a rich social program including many planned activities like BBQs for the whole community (here), academic seminars with outstanding scholars and professional leaders (here), supper every Monday night from 9.00 till 11.00pm hosted by the Senior Residents on each floor (here), formal dinners where we dress up, share good food and hear from an outstanding speaker whose life is inspiring (here). As well, residents organise themselves numerous activities such as the NCV Choir, the Gold Week Concert (here), movie nights, video gaming in the common room, sports activities, trips away, potluck dinners, outings to the city of beach and so on.

Our aim in building the New College Village has been to create a unique community for postgraduate students enrolled at UNSW. Many universities around the world attempt to provide designated postgraduate accommodation (although very few in Australia). However, not many universities have seriously given priority to support and community building. Drawing on experience living in graduate housing in the USA and my knowledge of the best of the postgraduate colleges in the United Kingdom, I developed a design brief that sought to:

create spaces for residents to meet with each other in varied contexts - 2 common rooms on each floor with lounges, coffee making facilities and in 7 of these cable television; a large games room; two outdoor courtyards; a rooftop terrace; a reading room; a business centre; a main common room; a convenience store and barbecue facilities outdoors.
ensure that as residents move through the building there are frequent mingling spaces;
our wonderful location close to key campus-based cafes, restaurants and the graduate lounge (just 100 metres away);
offer residents the privacy of their own rooms and ensuites, but at the same time provide common space for mingling. All apartments and clusters of studio apartments have generous shared space for sharing meals or just spending time with other residents;
provide well a equipped business centre that is for the use of all residents to support you in your studies;
offer internet services that you'd expect in a modern building with data access to all rooms;
incorporate state-of-the-art external design features that ensure that this building has outstanding acoustic features, leading to quiet rooms.

The NCV also has many other things going for it that will make life comfortable and interesting, including air-conditioned ensuite rooms; a special membership option for the outstanding University gymnasium and indoor pool (just 200 metres from the front door); a bus stop at the front door that provides access to all the sights of Sydney; some of the world's finest beaches a 20 minute walk away or a short 5 minute direct bus ride.

Added to the obvious strengths of the building, and the many programs that support community life, are the 319 different people who live in the NCV and are all at UNSW to learn from each other. The NCV gives you an opportunity to live among postgraduate students from every Australian state and territory and ever continent of the world. We have residents from 55 nations who bring rich cultural diversity that makes the community and exciting place.

If you'd like more information the NCV website will give you extra information and will allow you to make an online application.

Monday Night Suppers

2009-08-17T22:20:00.002+10:00

I have just returned from Monday night supper. At NCV we have a regular supper every Monday evening starting at 9.00pm. They are hosted by the Senior Residents on each floor. The NCV provides the food (cake, donuts, fruit etc) and the residents make tea or coffee or bring their own drink. Carmen and I usually work our way down from the 7th floor calling in on each group. Tonight was a great chance to meet some of our 40 new residents who have joined us from Thailand, USA, China, Indonesia, Australia, Iceland etc. A female engineering student from Iceland, now that's diversity! All of the 40 new residents who joined others mid-year are postgrads studying an incredible array of subjects - planning, biology, international relations, finance, arts management, environmental engineering, medicine, economics (to name a few).

Above: Level 6 residents enjoying supper

Above (& Top): Some of the residents of Level 3 enjoying supper together

NCV August Formal Dinner

2009-08-08T23:31:00.000+10:00

On Thursday 6th August we held our second NCV Formal Dinner for the year. It was a wonderful night. 120 residents, staff and board members gathered for a beautiful three course dinner, an inspiring talk from our guest speaker, a brilliant piano performance by one of our residents and an opportunity for great conversation. Hae-Na Lee inspired everyone with a performance of the Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.17 (Tempest - 3rd movement). Formal dinners have long been an important part of collegiate life and New College has a rich tradition of such events. The decision to have these dinners in a postgraduate self-catered community, was the result of requests from residents to enjoy dinners similar to those run at New College. The dining room at New College (across the road from NCV) provides the perfect venue for such events.

Our guest speaker was Professor Veena Sahajwalla who leads research on Sustainable Materials Processing at University of New South Wales (UNSW). She is one of the University’s distinguished Scientia professors. Before moving to UNSW she was a research scientist at the CSIRO. Along with her research team at UNSW, she works with many companies across the globe that support her research. She was appointed as Director, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology in 2008. She is also Associate Dean Strategic Industry Relations, Faculty of Science. Her research is focussed on sustainability of materials processing, including recycling of waste plastics in steelmaking, lowering of energy and emissions in metals processing, iron/steel making technologies, ferro-alloys and non-ferrous metals processing. Her address was a challenging talk about industry relationships and how postgraduate students can enhance the relevance of their research to industry and also increase their employability when their studies are completed.

The night finished with with coffee, conversation and lots of opportunities for residents to take photographs (see some of the photos taken by residents below). Our next formal dinner will have an arts focus and will feature the CEO of Musica Viva, Mary Jo Capps.

Holiday activities

2009-06-30T08:23:00.011+10:00

Many residents of New College Village now have a short 3 week winter break. Some will go home, some will travel and some will stay at NCV and explore Sydney. This week's NCV news has lots of ideas for outings in Sydney - a Manly Ferry ride, Featherdale Wildlife Park, a day trip to the Blue Mountains, one of the many coastal walks (within walking distance!), day trips to the Hunter Valley Wineries, a few days in the Snowy Mountains skiing (the snow is good). Here are a few pictures of one group's outing at Easter during the Mid-session break. They went to the Royal Easter Show that takes place for 3 weeks every Easter holidays. Photos courtesy of one of our residents Wangari Muchiri.

Meet our residential team

2009-06-20T11:52:00.001+10:00

New College Village is a community not just a building. We have 315 residents (actually we have 322 because there are six married couples in the building including Carmen and me). Central to the way the community is built and sustained is our residential team consisting of 6 Senior Residents, 1 Residential Tutor, a live in Dean (that's me this year) and a team of 6 academic tutors (I'll do a separate post on this group later).

The residential team is spread throughout the building. Our six senior residents live on separate floors (2-7) and a residential tutor lives on the smaller first floor (as do Carmen I). The residential team has a vital role at NCV. They work in four main areas:

They serve as after hours duty officers to handle problems that arise, allow access to visitors and deal with residential matters
They spend time geting to know all residents on their floor so that they can offer personal and academic advice when necessary.
They encourage social activities by hosting weekly suppers, planning other events and working with the Dean to plan NCV wide activities.
They act as a vital link between the Master/Dean and the residents, communicating issues that need to be addressed and informing residents about NCV news and events.

The team is made up of seven people plus Carmen and me. The team members come from varied countries and are pursuing varied courses of study. They are an important part of our work at NCV in maintaining a strong, vibrant and suportive community.

Residential team: Shelley, Sheau Fang, Arun, David (front row), Bala, Kanya, Trevor (middle row), Kirti (back).

Performing for the kids!

2009-06-09T08:04:00.003+10:00

On Saturday night about 70 residents of NCV enjoyed a wonderful night of concert entertainment in the Main Common Room - and we were the entertainment. The night had been organised by NCV resident Yuchan Chew who was personally challenged to raise funds for the Sydney Children's Hospital as part of its annual Gold Week fundraising activities. Each year the hospital's foundation has a major week of fundraising that involves the whole community.

Yuxuan with the support of her Senior Resident on the 7th floor (Kanya Ittinitiwut) decided to organise a concert and encourage all NCV residents to get behind behind it. As part of her fundraising Yuxuan and a group of other volunteers:

sold tickets to the concert
sold merchandise to residents in the building and on campus
sought cash coin donations on campus
encouraged people to make larger donations

One of the attractions of the idea of the concert was that it was also an opportunity to do some community building as we rehearsed items and entertained each other on the night. And entertain each other we did!

There were about 20 items that included:

a variety of vocal items (groups, duets, solos with and without instruments)
a musical comedy item from the Master (me) and Carmen (my wife)
a card throwing act
some rap dancing
guitar items
digital computer generated music
piano recitals
Chinese whistle blowing
a presentation on the Sydney Children's Hospital by Yuxuan

The audience cheered enthusiastically each item and demanded encores from some (Kelly's love songs were a big hit!).

The night had some wonderful moments including members of the audience joining soloists when they struggled to remember the words. Another enjoyable part of the evening was some group drawing that involved the audience being invited on arrival to choose a blank cut-out of a child and to add the details of someone who you'd like to see as a child.

This was a great night that raised almost $1,000 and did a lot for community building. People are still talking about some of the memorable items.

Residents shouldn't miss the next one!

Community life at the NCV

2009-06-01T22:28:00.000+10:00

Now that the NCV is in full operation we have been able to turn most of our attention to the building of a strong, vibrant and supportive community. Here are a few highlights of what happened last week and what will happen this week.

Monday Supper

As usual supper took place on every floor of the NCV on Monday night 25th May from 9.00pm-10.00pm. Every week the Senior Residents on each floor host supper. Food is provided by the NCV and SRs share weekly news of events in the life of the building. This is a great time for people to catch up and have as break from study.

NCV Research Seminar

Last Thursday evening (28th May) we heard from Professor Joe Wolf who spoke about his reasons for leaving a quest to become a professional musician to become instead an academic researcher and teacher working on the acoustics of the ear, the vocal tract and musical instruments. His work also covers information processing in auditory signals and cellular thermodynamics. Professor Wolf is well known on campus not just for his research but because of his reputation as a teacher.

Postgraduate Review Night

On Thursday evening our Research Seminar was followed by a seminar for research students that aimed to offer them a practice run at their mid year review. Professor Cairney acted as Chair and offered a critique of each presentation. The audience also gave verbal and written feedback. The diverse topics included the impact of landscape architecture on patients at four key hospitals, the impact of background music on the effectiveness of people's work, the role of political film in West and East Bengal, and the reasons for failure in second year university chemistry.

NCV Barbeque

On Friday evening (29th May) 250 residents turned up in the Central Courtyard for our 6 weekly BBQ. As usual the Senior Residents, the Master and Carmen cooked and the residents ate, talked and had a good time.

NCV Church Service

On Monday evening (1st June) 30 people gathered for the first NCV Church service. This was an encouraging night in which 6 residents played various parts, the Master lead the service, residents lead the music, prayed and read the Bible and Ben Gooley (Unichurch) preached from 1 Thessalonians.

NCV Soccer challenge

On Wednesday night (3rd June) the NCV is playing New College in our first major sporting challenge. This friendly match will determine who has bragging rights in football (soccer).

Sydney Children's Hospital Gold Night Concert

On Saturday evening (6th June) residents will come together for a night of entertainment. Each floor will provide varied entertainment and all proceeds from the night will go towards the annual Children's Hospital Gold Week appeal.

2009 NCV Residents - The Pioneers

2009-05-19T21:43:00.001+10:00

Official Opening of the NCV

2009-05-13T22:37:00.001+10:00

Above (Left to Right): Prof Fiona Wood, Vice Chancellor Fred Hilmer, Archbishop Peter Jensen & Prof Trevor Cairney (Master)

Friday 8th May saw the official opening of the New College Village. While some residents have been living in the building since the 5th January and we have been full since early February, as is usually the case the official opening took place four months after we opened for residents.

In all 130 alumni, University staff, donors, board members and representatives of the residential community joined us to share in this big event. Speeches were given by me as the Master, Professor Fiona Wood as a leading scientist, researcher and humanitarian, Archbishop Peter Jensen representing the Church and Vice Chancellor of UNSW, Professor Fred Hilmer. All four speakers offered different perspectives but there were many common themes, including the:

importance of community;
value of diversity in the student population;
place of faith in the university;
role that residential colleges play in contributing to campus life;
importance of support for postgraduate students;
importance of the NCV to the strategic needs of UNSW;
uniqueness of this new community in Australia.

In my comments I also acknowledge the founders of New College and named the group of pioneers who began pursuing their vision for university colleges in 1956.

My Board encouraged me as new Master in 2002 to embark on a refurbishment and development program for the College. We added a floor to New College and are part way through a total refurbishment. The original founders of the College were committed to the development of many colleges like New; they were successful in building two. The NCV is the third residential community that was inspired by the original vision of our founders.

Above: Guests at the Opening in the Central Courtyard

It was a wonderful day to celebrate the opening of this beautiful building and the establishment of a strong postgraduate community that is already developing a rich life of its own. Already, the 315 residents are developing strong relationships and are beginning to challenge one another to pursue goals that will lead to them making a significant contribution to their world.

Above (left to right): Carmen Cairney, Shelley Bambrook (Senior Resident), Nicky Sutton (guest), Niloufer Johansen (NCV Academic Tutor)

Another first for the NCV - Our first Christian service!

2009-04-26T18:30:00.000+10:00

It seems like every week there is something new at NCV. We celebrated our first Christian service at Easter. The service was based on an early Christian service called Tenebrae. The name Tenebrae is the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows." The service involved a series of Bible readings, songs, prayer and some brief comments from me. At the end of the service we enjoyed a supper together of traditional Easter Hot Cross buns. About 45 people came including a contingent from New College.

Above: Just before the service in the Main Common room

Above: Some animated discussion after the service, coffee and Hot Cross buns (yes, Rebecca in the centre made an unexpected appearance, it was good to have her back)

I hope to commence monthly services in the Main Common room on a Monday evening starting in May.

NCV Seminar series under way

2009-04-14T20:01:00.001+10:00

One of the many activities that we have planned to encourage dialogue about important matters of research and scholarship is our NCV Seminar series. A seminar is held every 3-4 weeks on a Thursday evening. Our first seminar was held on the 19th March. It was presented by David Loonan, Student Support Services Manager at Arc, the UNSW student organisation, who addressed the topic 'Key issues for postgrad students'.

This week, Dr Ian Pollard will visit us to talk about his new book. Ian Pollard - “Investing in your life’ - your biggest investment opportunities are not necessarily financial." Dr Pollard has been chairman, director or CEO of more than 30 companies. He is an actuary who was a Rhodes Scholar and has written widely on business coaching.

All residents of the NCV are welcome to attend the seminar in the Main Common Room on Thursday 16th April at 6.00pm.

Bible Study at the NCV

2009-03-29T13:40:00.001+11:00

New College Village welcomes people of all faiths or no faith at all. In the present diverse community with over 50 nationalities we have residents who are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Orthodox believers, Catholics and all types of Protestants. However, since the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church founded New College, we offer Christian ministry consistent with the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith. We choose to say 'Christian' ministry rather than 'Anglican' because we wish to stress that we offer residents the opportunity to find out more about Christianity based on the teachings of the Bible, rather than just Anglicanism.

One of our activities is a Bible Study that Carmen and I run each Monday night. We have 40 people who have registered for this group, with about 25 attending each week. We have been studying the Gospel of Mark, a book in the New Testament that provides the story of Jesus life and teaching. We meet in the Main Common room where we start with supper, I usually give a brief talk, we break into groups to read part of Mark and explore some questions together and to pray, and then I wrap up.

Above: Enjoying a barbecue together on the Rooftop Terrace

Last week we met together first for a barbecue. This was a great chance to get to know each other a little better. Residents of NCV are free to join this group at any time, the only requirement being that they are interested in knowing more about the Bible's teaching.

Above: The Master turns his hand to cooking!

The NCV will be holding its own Easter Service on Thursday 9th April at which we will read passages of Scripture that tell of the last hours of Jesus' life prior to his crucifixion and resurrection, there will be music and I will give a short message. This will be a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae (which is the plural of the Latin word for 'shadows' or 'darkness') is a Christian service celebrated on the eve of Maundy Thursday and sometimes Good Friday and Saturday. Our service will be focussed on the Bible readings that tell of Jesus last hours as he approaches death on the cross.

It has been encouraging to see how many people are interested in knowing more about the Bible's teaching.

NCV hosts its first BBQ for the year

2009-03-09T22:34:00.006+11:00

Now that all residents have arrived our program of social activities is being introduced. The aim of the various activities is to offer residents the opportunity to meet with one another and form relationships that will enrich their lives. Our 316 residents come from over 50 nations and bring a vast array of lived experiences. Living at the NCV is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be among a diverse, interesting and very talented group of people. Our first BBQ for the year was run on the 27th February and attracted 250 residents. The plan is to have a BBQ for all residents every 4-6 weeks. They are held in the Central Courtyard and Main Common Room. If our first BBQ is any indication these events will be great times to meet and catch up with others.

We're full!

2009-02-24T10:39:00.007+11:00

The New College Village is now full. While we are still finalising our last few rooms with latecomers waiting on visas etc, we have been turning people away this week. Last night we had our welcome 'Meet & Greet' for all residents in the Main Common Room and over 200 attended. It was a wonderful opportunity for people to meet others in similar courses or fields of study, people from their home countries, others on the same floor and so on. It was also a good chance to introduce residents to the Senior Residents on each floor who will assume responsibility for their care and support. People were exchanging phone numbers until midnight when I went to bed leaving about a dozen still talking.

The mix of residents is quire remarkable, with over 50 nationalities represented from every continent - our own little United Nations! As you'd expect we have large groups from Singapore (31), Hong Kong (20), Malaysia (20), India (9), New Zealand (9), Thailand (8) and smaller numbers (1-5) residents from countries like Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, USA, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Chile, Uruguay, Pakistan and many more.

The balance between postgraduate and undergraduate approximately is 65% PG and 35% UG. Most of the undergraduates are upper year students.

As we come close to seeing every resident in the building (people will be arriving up till the 7th March) we are beginning to enjoy each other's company at planned events and informally within the building.

Our next event will be our first NCV Barbecue that will take place on Friday 27th February. All residents are invited. The food will be provided and residents are being asked to bring their own drinks.

Getting used to living in the new building

2009-02-13T15:04:00.005+11:00

There have been some amusing moments in our first few weeks living in the NCV. I was at reception yesterday and one of our residents raced up to me with the words: "I've just done something VERY silly, I've dropped my wallet down the garbage chute when getting rid of my rubbish" To which I replied, "let's go and see if we can find it".

Down to the garbage compactor room we went to work out how you find and extract a wallet from the garbage. "Let's try rotating the garbage compactor and we'll see what we find." I pressed the appropriate button tentatively (never having operated it before) and waited. It whirred into action and there it was on top of a bin filled with well wrapped garbage.

Fanny was one very pleased resident who will probably not make the same mistake again. Fanny decided that she wanted a record of this event (as you can see below).

Australia Day at the NCV

2009-01-27T22:31:00.009+11:00

Monday 26th January is Australia Day. On this day Australians commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, which marked the start of British colonisation of this country. Until recently it has been a day that some Australians have found hard to celebrate because for almost two centuries the nation largely ignored the fact that Australia’s first settlers were our Indigenous Australians who archaeologists suggest have been here for 40,000 years. We celebrate the day in many different ways, but typically we spend time with friends and family. Here are some examples of how residents of the NCV celebrated the day.

Carmen and I invited our eldest daughter and son-in-law and three of our grandchildren over for the afternoon. We had our own Australia Day party (see below).

Above: Jacob, Elsie & Rebecca wave the Aussie flag, with cricket on the TV!

Above: Having fun in the central courtyard

Above: Promise they won't be hiding in your wardrobes when you move in!

Meanwhile, some of our residents were simply hanging out in the NCV games room.

Above: A group of postgrads hang out together on Australia Day

Above: And only one Aussie in the room

Latest shots of the NCV

2009-01-23T11:30:00.016+11:00

Residents are flowing into the NCV and the building now looks fantastic. Some shots that I took today appear below.

Above: The eastern facade of the NCV with its wonderful acoustic screen

Above: Central courtyard viewed from Level 4

Above: View of the NE corner of the Eastern facade

Above: Views of the rooftop terrace and BBQ area

Above: One of the 13 common rooms (2 on each floor)

Above: View of the eastern facade

Our first social activity

2009-01-13T16:55:00.001+11:00

As I indicated in my last post, we opened the doors to the New College Village on the 5th January. While we only have a small number of residents in the building at this early stage of the year we have commenced our social activities. Last night, one week after we opened, we had a dessert and coffee night for those residents who are already in the building and will be with us all year. It was a great night where we met and shared something of our backgrounds and experiences. I spoke briefly about the NCV and our plans for the year, people asked questions and we had a great supper (thanks Carmen!).

The group is made up mostly of MBA students at the moment who started their course on the day of the supper. We also have a small number of research students and other masters students. The current residents (see below) come from varied countries including Pakistan, USA, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia (Sydney!), France, Italy, India and Singapore (not bad for such a small group).

Above: The first group of NCV residents (the advance party!) at supper in the Main Common Room 12.1.09

It's not too late to join us, we're still taking applications!

We're in the building!

2009-01-05T23:33:00.005+11:00

Today is the first day that we have had residents in the building. I write this blog post from the Dean's apartment. Fourteen other residents are in their rooms upstairs. We are the 'advance party' in residence on this first night. While the majority of residents will not arrive until February some residents start classes next week and some are continuing doctoral students who have their research under way.

Our very first resident to check in was Laura Sharpe who is in the 3rd year of a doctoral program. She has not come far, just 60 km from Penrith on the western edge of Sydney, but others have come from various parts of the world including the USA, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.

The building looks wonderful and will be even better when it is filled with its full complement of 316 residents.

I was also joined in the Village on day one by Rebecca Barnes who will be acting as our Senior Resident throughout January and Connie Voon who is our new receptionist.

It's been an exciting day.

PLACES ARE STILL AVAILABLE - APPLY NOW!

The finishing touches - NCV set to open 5th January 2009

2008-12-22T21:33:00.012+11:00

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old post, the NCV opened on the5th January 2009

With just days till the handover of the NCV the final touches are being applied. The inside of the building is completed, the landscaping will be completed in a few days and the last few jobs such as final cleaning, distributing the soft furnishings and completing signage is almost done. The shots below show how wonderful the building looks. Note that the sign was affixed by abseiling down the main blade - not a job I would have liked.

We are still taking applications so it isn't too late to get a room in the finest university accommodation on this campus and probably at any Australian university.

Above: View of the acoustic screen and main Anzac Parade signage

Above: NCV South Eastern elevation

Above: The north eastern elevation of the NCV

Literally a million dollar feature of the NCV is its wonderful acoustic screen on the front of the building to ensure that the building is VERY quiet. It also serves as a major aesthetic element to the building. Below are some close-ups of this significant architectural feature.

First residents in just three weeks - APPLY NOW!

2008-12-13T17:42:00.007+11:00

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old post, the NCV opened on the 5th January 2009

The first residents of New College Village will start arriving from the 5th January. While most residents won't arrive until February, a group of MBA and coursework masters students will start arriving in January. Applications have been flowing in steadily but we still have places, so apply now.

The building will be handed over to us next week (19th December) and we will be setting up all our systems in the week before Christmas.

The biggest development in the last week was the uncovering of the beautiful glass screen on the Anzac Parade side of the building. This acoustic screen is very effective (I've tested it!) and is designed so that residents on the Anzac parade side are able to have their windows open without hearing much outside noise.

In the last week I have been personally inspecting EVERY room as well as all community spaces to ensure that they are of the highest quality. I was struck again at just how many wonderful rooms we have in the building, all with their own character and features (see my previous post on choosing rooms, here). There are NO bad rooms at the NCV.

If you'd like more information on applications visit the NCV website (here).

Support at the NCV

2008-12-05T22:57:00.005+11:00

The New College Village is meant to be a home away from home, not an apartment block. As a result, we will have strong support in place. This will take a number of forms:

Senior Residents (SRs)- the NCV will have a Senior Resident on each floor. These people will usually be upper year doctoral students who will take responsibility for a floor and its residents. The SR will be the person that you can go to with day-to-day questions, academic problems and issues. If they can't answer your questions they will know where to go to get the extra advice or support that you need.

Academic Tutors (ATs) - the NCV will also have residents who also serve as Academic Tutors. Their role will be to offer advice and support in relation to life on campus, how to negotiate and understand the various academic programs and courses on campus, where to go for academic help, rules and regulations about study at UNSW, and general advice about writing, research and meeting University assessment requirements.

The Master - I will live in the building and will be available to offer advice of an academic or personal nature. I am an Adjunct Professor with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and have extensive experience as a superviser of PhD and Masters students and have been an active research in the social sciences for over 30 years.

University support units - key staff at NCV will be able to direct you to the many units on campus that offer support to postgraduates students.

College Fellows - the College will have a variety of fellows who will have a relationship with the NCV. Fellows will visit the NCV to provide talks and seminars and offer general advice and support.

Residents - because the NCV will be a community it is hoped that residents will help each other. The building has been designed to facilitate inetraction and the various programs that we will have in place will also help to enable residents to support each other. Being part of the NCV will be a privilege. Part of each resident's repsonsibility will be to seek to support and help others.

New College has a long tradition of support to residents; we want each resident of the NCV to have the benefit of a community that offers help and support in many and varied ways.

New College Village to open in 6 weeks!

2008-11-23T09:21:00.009+11:00

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old post, the NCV opened on the 5th January 2009

The New College Village is nearing completion. An update on progress:

The interior of the building is virtually finished with final touches being made to painting, furniture being installed, signage being added and systems being tested.
The main central courtyard and rooftop terrace are taking shape with tiling and planting to start soon.
The external finishes are within 2-3 weeks of completion with the wonderful eatern glass facade the last element to be completed (should be in 2 weeks).

The building is looking magnificent with daily comments being made by everyone who sees it. As I wander the corridors I can envisage our vibrant community using the many great spaces that we've created. I'm also reminded that every part of the building has its own character and outlook - there are lovely views from every side of the building.

Here are some photographic highlights.

Above: Aerial shot of the Southern Facade from the L5 building (city skyline in background, 5km away)

Above: Close up of the southern facade

Above: Northern facade viewed from NIDA

Above: Rooftop terrace nears completion

Above: Inner central courtyard taking shape

Choosing your room @ NCV

2008-11-06T20:43:00.000+11:00

1. How to choose your room?

Numbers of people have been asking for advice on which room or floor to choose in the New College Village. This is a hard question to answer because every part of the building has its own character, aspect and attractions. A few basic points to make:

All apartments are of comparable quality - some of the large apartments have living areas that have slightly different configurations, about 25% have balconies, and some bedrooms have balconies (at no extra cost). But essentially, the fit-out and facilities are identical in quality and inclusions.
This is a brand new building so every resident will be the first to use the rooms.
Every bedroom is air-conditioned and rooms that face western sun have awnings that can protect from any summer sun.
Every floor has more than one common room, at least one of which has a large flat screen television and both free to air and cable television.
Every room has access to high speed broadband internet.
Every floor has wide corridors and many other design features.
The building is thermally and acoustically well designed - so heat and noise will not be a problem even though the building is located ion a city environment.
Every floor has access to 2 elevators and three sets of stairs.
Every floor has a Senior Resident who is there to help build the community.

Some people have been asking whether the top floor could be hotter? The answer is no, the floor has well insulated ceilings and air-conditioning. An added advantage is that it has the best views.

Some have wondered whether some sides of the building will be more noisy. The answer is they shouldn't be because even on the side nearest to the busiest road the building has been designed to avoid this problem with a wonderful glass screen (that you can see through), which acts as an additional sound barrier. This is a feature that no other apartment block or accommodation has on this campus. Even rooms on the front side of the building have specially designed clear glass sound screens (see the photograph below). The building is very quiet inside with double walls throughout and extensive insulation.

Above: View of the South East corner (note glass sopund barriers on front windows)

2. So what are the special qualities of specific parts of the building?

I'll try to offer my insights into the building. Here are a few examples of floors and locations that are different and why.

(i) Apartments on the SE corner

While these apartments are on the busier Anzac Parade side, only one room in each apartment is on the road side and these rooms have windows facing away from the road. From the balconies off the living rooms you have great views across to the Village Green. Many studios on the eastern side of the building also have similar views and some have balconies. All have the advantage of the Glass screen to the front of the building with nice views of the campus and the private inner courtyard below.

Above: View from an apartment balcony on the SE corner

(ii) Apartments on the North West corner

These apartments have views to the leafy suburbs of Kensington or towards the city. They have some of the best city views in the buiding with most of the city skyline visible from many rooms. The pictures below show a typical city view from the top few floors and the second photo shows a view of the suburb of Kensington from the 4th floor (excuse the dirty window in this incomplete apartment).

Above: View from a North West facing apartment

Above: A 4th floor view to the West from an apartment living area.

(iii) Apartments on the South West Corner

What I like about the apartments on this side is that they have views over Kensington and on the top floor right to Botany Bay. The rooms also have bedrooms with nice views to the south and west.

Above: A typical view to the south west from apartments on the 4th to 7th floors

3. Other features worth noting in other building locations

There are also great advantages in being on other specific floors depending on your tastes and needs. For example:

Studios and apartments on the ground floor have the advantage of being close to the two key courtyards, the Main Common room, the games room, the business centre, reading room and offices. It's also a quick few steps to the convenience store in the building.
Studios and aprtments on the 4th floor have access from their corridors directly to the rooftop terrace with view of the city, outdoor furniture and built in barbeques.
North facing 2nd and 3rd floor stuidos will have the advantage of winter sun.
Some rooms face inwards to views of the inner courtyard while some face outwards to the various views mentioned above.

4. A few final points

I'm confident that there will be a room location to suit all people in this building and that you will almost need to live in the building to make your choice as to which is the 'best' location. Frankly, I don't think there is a BEST location, just DIFFERENT locations, all of which have many special qualities.

While we will endeavour to meet your requests, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to give you a room exactly where you want it. Of course after you've been with us for a session we may be able to move you if you decide you'd like to be in a different location within the building.

I'm confident that you'll love living in this bulding, I'm looking forward to doing so. I'll be on the ground floor facing south.

Why I'm going to Live at the NCV in 2009

2008-11-01T10:44:00.000+11:00

Above: My wife Carmen (left) with me and the Governor of our State (NSW) Dame Marie Bashir, at a New College dinner

This is a brief post to introduce myself as Master and the Dean of the NCV in 2009. I am Master of New College and will responsible for both the old 'New College' and the new NCV. But in 2009 I intend to act as Dean of the NCV as well. My wife Carmen and I will be moving into the Dean's Apartment within the building in late January. We're excited about being part of this new community.
Below: Carmen reading to our grandaughter Elsie
Carmen and I have been maried for 37 years in January. We have two daughters (both married) and 5 grandchildren. There's a good chance you'll see my grandchildren at some stage around the NCV. They are aged 2 months to 6 years, and needless to say, I think they're wonderful. Carmen was trained as a teacher and spent almost 30 years teaching infants and primary-aged children. In more recent years she spent 5 years in a pastoral care role within our church; a role in which she gave care and support to people with varied needs and of varied ages. She 'retired' from full-time paid work about 7 years ago and now spends a lot of time in voluntary work, doing things in our church and caring for our daughters, grandchildren and me!

I started life as a teacher too and became fascinated by the way children learn, especially the way they learn language. I then moved to University education where I spent over 20 years as a professor and senior University manager before moving to New College in 2002. My last role before coming to New College was as Pro Vice-chancellor (Research) at another university where I was responsible for the university's research and postgraduate studies. At UNSW I have an adjunct appointment as Professor within the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and am still active as a researcher and a scholar (in my spare time!) and supervise doctoral students at UNSW (you can check out my work at my personal website here).

Carmen and I are both keen to live in the NCV because we both want to be involved in forming what will be a wonderful community (see my earlier post on this here). I will do a post soon on some of the activities we have planned for in 2009. We look forward to meeting all of our residents in January to March. If you haven't applied yet, could I encourage you to do so as son as possible (online applications here).

Above: With Samuel (one of my grandsons who is aged 3 years) at a local wildlife park getting up close to a Koala

Latest aerial shots of the building

2008-10-20T11:30:00.007+11:00

Here are two wonderful shots that show the emerging facades of the building, the closeness of the city and that give a hint of some of the great views to be had from the building on all sides.

Above: View of the Southern facade from the UNSW L5 building

Above: View of the Southern facade from the UNSW L5 building showing the city skyline in the background

A building emerges from the scaffolding

2008-10-15T09:10:00.000+11:00

I haven't posted photos for s few weeks because most of the obvious progress on the building has been inside. And this progress has been significant. For example:

Carpetting up to level 4
Furniture being installed
Level 7 (last floor) walls completed and fit-out well advanced
Kitchens and built-in items largely installed
All major services (e.g Air conditioning) virtually completed

Outside the building progress is also good.

Balcony rails and awnings are being installed
All the facade finishes are well advanced
The acoustic screen on Anzac Parade is now being installed

Up to this stage, the outside of the building has been shrouded by the scaffolding; but as it is being slowly removed the beauty and scale of the building are obvious. I have received numerous comments from varied sources about just how good the building looks (well done Lipman and AJC). In the next few weeks the scaffolding will be completely down and the building's quality will be clearer.

The good news is that we are on track for completion before Christmas this year. Our first resident will arrive on January 5th 2009.

Here are some recent images.

Above: Northern elevation viewed from NIDA

Above: Eastern elevation, the acoustic screen is now being installed

Above: The north-eastern elevation from Anzac Parade

Above: Partial view of a studio Kitchenette (sink, cooktop, fridge, microwave)

Above: Bathroom fittings (all 316 bedrooms have a bathroom like this)

The importance of community

2008-09-26T21:44:00.001+10:00

As I indicated in two previous posts (here and here), the New College Village will be more than just a place to live; it will be a strong postgraduate community. There are two main things that will help to ensure that this will be the case: strong programs and a well designed building. Each of these will facilitate opportunities to meet with others. The support programs will include regular social activities; an academic support program consistent with New College traditions; and strong pastoral care support from our well trained Senior Residents led by me as the Master living in the building with my wife Carmen.

The building itself has been carefully designed to facilitate opportunities for interaction that are essential to community building. Our aim in building the New College Village has been to create a unique community for postgraduate students enrolled at UNSW. Many universities around the world attempt to provide designated postgraduate accommodation (although very few in Australia). However, not many universities have seriously given priority to support and community building. Drawing on my own experience living in graduate housing in the USA and my knowledge of the best of the postgraduate colleges in the United Kingdom, I developed a design brief that sought to:

create spaces for residents to meet with each other in varied contexts - 2 common rooms on each floor with lounges, coffee making facilities and in 7 of these cable television; a large games room; two outdoor courtyards; a rooftop terrace; a reading room; a business centre; a main common room; a convenience store and barbecue facilities outdoors.
a design that ensures that as residents move through the building there are frequent mingling spaces;
a location close to key campus-based cafes, restaurants and the graduate lounge (just 100 metres away);
while offering residents the privacy of their own rooms and ensuites, all apartments and clusters of studio apartments have generous shared space for sharing meals or just spending time with other residents;
a well equipped business centre that is for the use of all residents to support you in your studies;
internet services that you'd expect in a modern building with data access to all rooms;
external design features that will ensure that this building has outstanding acoustic features, leading to quiet rooms.

The NCV will also have many other things going for it that will make life comfortable and interesting, including air-conditioned rooms; a special membership option for the outstanding University gymnasium and indoor pool (just 200 metres from the front door); a bus stop at the front door that provides access to all the sights of Sydney; some of the world's finest beaches a 20 minute walk away or a short direct bus ride.

Added to the obvious strengths of the building, and the many programs that will support community life, will be the 319 different people who will all be at UNSW to learn from each other. You will be living among postgraduate students from every Australian state and territory and ever continent of the world. You will live in a community unlike any you will have known in the past or will join in the future. This is a rare opportunity.

If you'd like more information the NCV website will give you extra information and will allow you to make an online application.

Fit-out well on the way

2008-09-16T21:41:00.008+10:00

We are within 12 weeks of completion of the New College Village. Progress has been good on all fronts. Only Level 7 has significant work to be done with most walls completed and services well advanced. On lower floors the extent of the fit-out varies with elevation. Levels 1 and 2 are almost complete with carpet laying to commence in apartments and studios soon. Most kitchens are now fitted up to Level 4 and painting is well advanced on lower levels. Tiling to bathrooms is completed to Level 3 and underway up to Level 6. The rooftop services are also well advanced with air conditioning and hot water units currently being installed. External finishes are also well advanced with all three surface types under way. The photos below give some sense of the progress to date. We expect completion by the 20th December and our first guests by the 5th January 2009.

Above: View of the southern Level 3 corridor

Above: One of the apartment shared kitchens nearing completion

Above: Services being installed on the roof with the city skyline in the distance

A 'Skybridge' to New

2008-09-04T06:34:00.005+10:00

The New College Village has been developed by New College. One of the wonderful characteristics of the New College community is its sense of fun. Each year it plans and mounts a Revue of the year's activities which is always a great production and is open to the College, University and the public. A revue is meant to be an amusing or satirical commentary on life on the College. One of the items on the program last week was 'The Skybridge'. It was one resident's 'tongue in cheek' comment on how we might bring the old New College and the new "New College Village" together. What do you think?

Not sure if this is an engineering possibility! As for the cost, I'm sure it would be well beyond us. Thanks to David Butterworth for letting us use his image. For the record, the Revue was a wonderful celebration of the talent of the College community. Perhaps the New College Village will have its own Revue in 2009 in the Main Common Room.

Latest Shots

2008-08-26T21:29:00.000+10:00

Above: View of the building from Anzac Parade

Lipman is still making good progress on the New College Village. As previously reported the structure is completed. As well:

* Internal walls are now completed for all floors
* Most gyproc internal walls are completed
* Tiling of bathrooms and most fittings are completed to level 1
* Tiling is under way on levels 2 & 3
* Windows are installed to Level 6
* The installation of elevators is well advanced
* Most electrical, mechanical and haudraulic services are finished to Level 7
* External surface finishing is well progressed
* Sealing of the roof is close to completion

Above: Shot from the top of the L5 building

Above: Waterproofing the roof slab

Above: Shot of the northern facade from NIDA

Above: The kitchenettes are being installed in the studios

External finishing well underway

2008-08-14T22:33:00.007+10:00

Progress continues to be good on the building. The following are some key indicators:

Structure complete
Internal walls largely completed levels 1-6 and well on the way to level 7 (top floor)
Services roughed in to level 7
Painting commenced on level 1
Preparation for tiling well advanced levels 1-4
External finishes well advanced
Acoustic screen to Anzac Parade commenced
Power sub station installed

The following photographs give a sense of the progress.

Above: Stockpiling tiles and other materials on the roof

Above: Granisite surfacing well under way (first 2 of 6 coats)

Above: Terrasite finishes commence on northern facade

Above: Main Common Room

Views of the completed structure

2008-08-04T22:27:00.004+10:00

As I said in my last post the structure is now completed - all seven floors are erected and the roof has been poured. Fitting out is proceeding at a rapid pace. In summary:

Internal walls are almost erected to level 6
Services are roughed in to Level 6
Painting and tiling have begun on Levels 1 & 2
External surfaces are well advanced.

Here are two shots that give a sense of the shape and mass of the structure (even with scaffolding).

Photo 1: View of the northern facade from NIDA

Photo 2: View of the southern facade from the top of the L5 Building at UNSW

The structure is complete!

2008-07-25T19:46:00.000+10:00

Above: The slab slab is poured (Level 8b - the last half of the roof)

This has been a big week. On Wednesday the second half of the roof slab was poured (see above). This means that the entire structure is now complete. Of course, there is still much to do to complete all external finishes, internal walls and services and fit-out. But progress has been excellent. The photos show, rather than tell, the story of the progress.

Above: View of the eastern facade from Anzac Parade

Above: : Level 1 corridor (gyproc well advanced Levels 1-3)

Above: External wall finishes underway

Above: View of the inner courtyard looking east to the campus

Above: View of the northern facade from NIDA

View from the top

2008-07-08T07:59:00.008+10:00

As the structure nears completion (just two weeks to go!), the views from the building have become spectacular. Here are a sequence of photos from the common room of a 7th floor apartment on the north west corner.

Above: View of the city skyline looking north over NIDA

Above: Looking towards Balmain and Pyrmont (Anzac Bridge central in the distance)

Above: Kensington to the north west

Above: Kingsford to the south west

Above: Kingsford to the south

Meet Kim Scruton

2008-07-02T14:58:00.001+10:00

Kim Scruton is working with me as Executive Assistant. She is a former resident of New College where she filled various roles including elected President of the New College Students' Association and Residential Adviser. Kim graduated recently with 1st Class Honours in Medical Science. She is working with me on the marketing and promotion of the New College Village. She will also be helping to develop policies for the NCV community. Her knowledge of the New College community is helping her to bring a unique 'user' perspective to the NCV that will help us to deliver a vibrant and supportive community when we open in January 2009.

Above: Kim checking out progress on the NCV

The Village Reaches the 6th Floor

2008-06-24T20:36:00.007+10:00

Above: View of the structure from the UNSW L5 building (opposite New College)

Progress continues to be excellent and the structure is now completed up to the 6th floor. Work has commenced on the 7th floor slab floor and so we are within about 2-3 weeks of seeing the structure completed. The key milestones continue to be met for completion by December.

There has been other good progress in addition to the structure:

The external wall finishes have started
Internal walls are well advanced on Levels 1 and 2 and have commenced on Level 3
First floor windows are being fitted and walls are being lined on Level 1
Electrical, hydraulic and mechanical services are also well advanced on Levels 1 to 3
Level 4 has also been stripped ready for internal walls to commence
Work has also commenced on the foundations for the glass screen on the Anzac Parade facade

Above: View of the NCV from NIDA (Southern facade)

The building has now developed quite a presence in the area and can be seen for some distance. Views from the upper floors are also impressive with the city skyline (and even Anzac Bridge) visible from the Northern side of the building and Botany Bay visible to the south.

Above: Views to the west from the 6th Floor

The View from NIDA

2008-06-11T22:51:00.003+10:00

The latest photo of the northern elevation of the New College Village taken from NIDA. This shot shows the three storey bridge between the East and West wings. This section of the building has a games room on the ground floor and two floors of studios. Residents will enter the building off the University Mall through the undercroft of this section of the building.

Progress on the services and finishing

2008-06-03T14:47:00.000+10:00

While we've been preoccupied with the structure in recent times (for obvious reasons) it's encouraging to see lot's of work occurring inside the building. Internal walls are going up on Levels 1, 2 and 3, windows are being fitted and all services are progressing with well advanced plumbing, air-conditioning and electrical work on Levels 1 and 2.

The structure itself is up to the 6th floor with both the 6A and 6B slab floors due to be poured next week. Rain has disrupted things this week a little but hopefully this will still occur next week. The complete structure is due for completion by mid July (about 6 weeks).

Work on the marketing of the Village is also well progressed with a new website to be launched in a few weeks and promotional work already occurring. Applications are coming in and some places have been offered. I am now beginning to think through the specifics of the pastoral care and academic support that will need to be in place by January.

Above - Looking out to the inner courtyard from the Level 3 south-west common room

Above - Walls going in on Level 3

Left - Walls and insulation going in on Level 1

A great aerial shot of the Village

2008-05-17T09:55:00.005+10:00

This shot taken from the UNSW L5 building opposite New College gives a good sense of the bulk of the building and the progress.

For UNSW alumni a note on the L5 building. It replaced the old bowling alley which was later Unisearch House. The University has built a wonderful 8 storey high building on site (actually our builder for the NCV - Lipman actually built it!!) which houses the University Foundation Studies Program for overseas students and also a major IT research centre (NICTA). UNSW sold the building last year and those parts of UNSW still using it have leased the space back. The building has won many architectural awards. In a review Architecture Australia comented that the building "is flawless, both in execution and conception".

At the half way mark!

2008-05-14T12:29:00.001+10:00

Yesterday we reached the halfway mark with the structure. The second half of the fourth floor slab was laid and the walls for half of Level 4 have been erected. In fact, if you include the basement we are well past halfway and the structure is growing one storey each 13 days. We expect the final floor of the structure to be completed by mid-July.

The central courtyard will (I suspect) be one of the key sites for social interaction in the Village. It will be the site of Friday afternoon BBQs that Carmen and I intend to host. While it is currently used to store materials, it will eventually have a raised lawn and garden, a BBQ area and wireless access to the Internet.

At the more micro level, it has also been exciting to see the services beginning with plumbing well underway. We will also see the first windows installed this week and Level 1 will soon be completely stripped ready for full fit-out.

Work on the 4th floor commences

2008-04-29T17:07:00.007+10:00

Progress on the NCV was slowed a little last week due to Sydney's rain and holidays. Rain occurred on 13 consecutive days which I think is a record for Sydney. In spite of this we were not badly affected until Tuesday last week. We also had a public holiday on Friday and this is always associated with a rostered day off across the construction industry in this country. We also lose Saturday on long weekends. The outcome was a week that had 2 work days rather than 6. Nevertheless, the project program has built in holidays and allowances for wet days so the impact on the completion date is not great.

This week has seen cold days and clear skies so progress has been good. The second stage of the 3rd floor slab was poured yesterday and work is well on the way for the first stage of the 4th floor slab to be poured next Tuesday. The walls for the 3rd floor are well advanced and should be completed by next week.

As you can see from the image above the building is beginning to take on significant bulk and height. This image shows the inner courtyard viewed from the North East corner of the 3rd floor. Yes, the crane tower will eventually go!

ABOVE - Admin section on the ground floor (I know it has some way to go before we can use the phones)

ABOVE - Main common room on the ground floor (this will seat 120 people)

ABOVE - West wing of the ground floor

Up to the 3rd Floor

2008-04-19T21:56:00.004+10:00

The first half of the 3rd floor slab was laid this week and the erection of the walls for this floor also commenced. The bulk of the building grows each week with its presence on Anzac Parade being observed by all who enter the University via the main University mall. In spite of regular daily showers this last two weeks there has been good progress.

Our marketing program is also well underway and already applications are being received for accommodation in the New College Village. Bookings have also been taken for conferences in 2009.

New College Village from the air

2008-04-04T06:00:00.000+11:00

Some shots from the top of L5 show that the structure is on the move. They also show what a great location this is!

Level 2 takes shape

2008-04-01T12:35:00.006+11:00

March was a great month for construction with no days lost due to rain. As a result there has been good progress on site. The last ground floor slab was pouted this week and work on Levels 1 and 2 are well advanced. All of the AFS walls have been erected for Level 1 and 60% of Level 2. With the completion of the missing link slab at ground level we will see the structure rising (eventually) at a uniform rate. The East and Southern sections of the building will continue to be in advance of the west and north for some weeks.

A prototype room is nearing completion, and as well as allowing Lipman to test construction methods and materials, will allow us to show prospective residents what the accommodation will be like.

View of the southern wing across the inner courtyard

View of the southern and western wings and the courtyard

View to the west showing existing western campus buildings

The structure begins to rise

2008-03-17T22:00:00.001+11:00

Progress on the building has been good during February and March and hence the structure is beginning to be more obvious on Anzac Parade. The floor slab for Level 2 is beginning to take shape and we should see the first of two major pours tomorrow. Once all of the Level 2 floor has been poured the structure will become more repetitive and faster so we should see even more progress. The following shots give some sense of the progress. The picture above is from the top of the L5 building.

Above - part of the inner courtyard and the walls of Level 1 emerging.

Above - view from the NIDA end of the site looking south.

Above - The Level 2 slab being prepared for the pour.

Shipping container housing

2008-03-12T17:15:00.000+11:00

A company in Amsterdam is responsible for an amazing student housing development. Tempo Housing has developed a way of using shipping containers to creat modular housing. The containers have become 1,000 home units that each have a bathroom and private balcony. The complex also has a cafe, supermarket, office space, and even a sports area. Units are arranged in “blocks,” each block containing a service unit with centralized electricity, internet, and networking systems.

The developers claim that Keetwonen provides all the amenities a student could ever want, and claims 'green' credentials because they are using surplus shipping containers. Keetwonen has integrated a rooftop to accommodate efficient rainwater drainage while providing heat dispersal and insulation for the containers beneath. Designed by TempoHousing it was completed last year. You can view a video of the development if you want to know more.

Will we consider using containers in Australia? I don't think so. I can't begin to imagine how such a development could satisfy Development Application requirements and Building Council of Australia standards. Nevertheless, it's an interesting project.

The building begins to take shape

2008-02-28T18:33:00.012+11:00

The last three weeks have seen wonderful progress on site. Lots of things have been going up.

The crane went up two weeks ago and has made a big difference to work on site; making it easier to move materials and pour concrete on most days in the last week. All 1st floor slabs are now completed with the exception of the northern sector of the building that will have just three floors plus the roof top terrace. This slab will be completed soon and when it is the momentum of the project will pick up again as floors go up more quickly.

The suspended slab floor over the basement was poured.

The first walls went up.

A sense of the scale of the New College Village and the progress can be gained from this aerial photo taken by Tim Calpito from the top of the new L5 Building (old bowling alley and later Unisearch) that was also built by Lipman.

The foundation stone is unveiled

2008-02-13T22:59:00.005+11:00

About 60 people gathered on the 12th February 2008 to officially launch the construction process for the New College Village. Speakers at the ceremony included:

- The Master (me)
- The UNSW Vice Chancellor, Professor Frederick Hilmer
- Emeritus Professor Edwin Judge representing the founding memebrs of the New University Colleges Council (NUCC)

A cornerstone (or foundation stone) is a ceremonial masonry stone, or facsimile, set in a prominent location on the outside of a building, with an inscription on the stone indicating details such as the construction date. This is an important cultural component of western architecture and is also a key metaphorical symbol in sacred architecture.

Before asking the Vice Chancellor to unveil the foundation stone I indicated that for New College the foundation stone symbolized at least three things:

• The fact that the building has commenced
• That what we do at New College is founded on Christian faith and values.
• The fact that the New College Village is a direct outcome of the vision and energy that drove the founders of New College, and one could well add the founders of UNSW, who understood the power of community to change lives.

It was an exciting event attended by senior University staff, representatives of Lipman (as builder), Allen Jack+Cottier (architects), financiers, residents, staff and board members of New College, heads of other colleges, alumni and friends. The Vice Chancellor commented:

"This is a very important development for UNSW. It is aligned with our strategic directions and we are grateful to New College for its initiative."

The Design of the New College Village

2008-01-29T12:32:00.001+11:00

As mentioned in a previous post, the building that is being constructed by Lipman places a high priority on the building of community. It has been designed to help us build a strong postgraduate community.

The Architects who have been responsible for the design are well-known Sydney Architects Allen Jack+Cottier (AJC), with the driver being Andrew Parker. AJC has been careful to be faithful to the original design brief (which I had prepared based on my experience of residential buildings in Australia, USA and the UK), while constantly looking for ways to enhance the appearance, efficiency and functionality of the building. Just one of the special features that has taken considerable design expertise (and has obviously involved Lipman and various consultants) is the Acoustic screen on the Anzac Parade side of the building. This wonderful feature was originally devised as a means to reduce noise on Anzac Parade and to create an additional quiet outdoor recreation area. The idea for the screen came from Lipman in response to my brief. AJC has created an outstanding design. The screen will reduce noise to such an extent that residents of this air conditioned building could still leave their windows open without experiencing significant noise from the street. The screen will also enhance the appearance of the building as well as the general streetscape at the front door to the University.

Progress on the ground floor

2008-01-25T14:58:00.000+11:00

The past week has seen excellent progress on the form work for the key suspended ground floor slab over the basement. This is a critical element in enabling all other ground floor slabs to be completed. Once this happens we will see the construction rising vertically at a much faster rate with the structure expected to reach its full height by June/July. The slab is quite complex due to level changes and the wonderful internal courtyard (see below) that has a combination of open grass, steps, raised seating and gardens. It is exciting to see the shape of the ground floor emerging.

There has also been good progress on the final pier caps and foundations that are necessary before the non-suspended ground floor slabs are poured.

Some key achievements in the last two weeks have included:

The piers were completed last week.
The western elevator pit was poured this week.
The final bridging caps in the basement area were poured.
Good progress has been made on the pile caps at the ground floor level.
The ground floor suspended slab has progressed well and the first section was poured this week with more sections to come soon.
The New College Big Top (see previous post) has largely been removed with the last of back filling taking place and some sand being trucked off site.

Promoting the New College Village

2008-01-18T14:21:00.000+11:00

The process of promoting the New College Village as a place to live has begun. The erection of a 12 x 2 metre sign just before Christmas was the first stage in the promotion of the New College Village. The site sheds don't look too flash but the sign that you see as you walk across the Anzac Parade pedestrian crossing from the University Mall can't be missed and looks wonderful.

The College will be appointing a Marketing Coordinator to promote the New College Village this year. Expressions of interest would be welcomed from friends and alumni of New College. To see a detailed outline of the Marketing role, click here».

The crane tower goes up

2008-01-14T13:31:00.000+11:00

Construction recommenced after the Christmas shut-down on Monday 7th January and since then progress has been good. While the project is still a little behind Lipman has made some changes to the construction program designed to catch up some time. Progress in week 1 after the break has included:

completion of the concrete piles (by today)
erection of the crane tower
commencement of underfloor plumbing

Key milestones in coming weeks include:

completion of all screw piles this week
completion second elevator shaft pit
pouring of first section of basement floor by 21/1/08

The photo is taken from the top floor of New College (room 4A6).

Good progress prior to Christmas

2008-01-01T23:56:00.000+11:00

I haven't written many posts in recent weeks because there are just so many ways that you can talk about in these early stages of construction. And there are just so many ways that you can make a basement look interesting. Construction has ceased for 2 weeks during the Christmas and New year holiday period but will re-commence on the 7th January.

Progress prior to shut-down was good with the basement nearing completion and the drilling of the remaining piers for the eastern and southern sections of the building under way. The construction programme is about 2 weeks behind but Lipman is confident that this will be picked up when they re-commence in January.

Just peeping above the ground

2007-12-05T09:31:00.000+11:00

Progress on the building continues to be good. While there have been challenges on site (not the least of which is the huge pile of sand that will be backfilled soon), the building will soon be out of the ground. Some of the latest milestones achieved:

* The new roadway that provides access to Western Campus as well as our basement will be opened today at 5.00pm
* The stormwater retention tank has been completed (this big hole will capture overflow water from our stormwater tanks in extreme weather events and allow it to enter the aquifer)
* The walls on three sides of the basement are virtually complete (and the last one will be done soon)
* The lift pits and stairways to the ground floor have been poured
* The crane based (a 3o cubic metre block of concrete sitting on 4 deep piles) has been completed ready for the crane to be erected in January

The project is a little behind in terms of key limestones (perhaps by a week) but Lipman is hopeful that this can be caught up. Wet weather is always a risk but in spite of one of our wettest Novembers on record there has been minimal disruption at this stage.

What type of community will the NCV have?

2007-11-15T09:41:00.001+11:00

Our aim in building the New College Village is to create a unique community for postgraduate students enrolled at UNSW. Many universities around the world attempt to provide designated postgraduate accommodation (although very few in Australia). However, not many universities have seriously given time to community building. I lived in a postgraduate residence consisting of 200 two and three bedroom apartments whilst a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University (Bloomington) in the early 1980s. Tulip Tree Apartments (picture opposite) was designed for postgraduates and their families. While it was a nice building, it had no common rooms, no shared facilities and virtually no support programs. The estimated 37 nations represented in the building had to find ways to make friends and support each another. At that time (over 20 years ago) the building offered little more than a mail service and its design did little to foster community building. Other than some long corridors, the elevator and a limited playground, there were few places where residents could meet one another. While I enjoyed my time in Bloomington it was because of the connections we made with other people through the faculty, community, school and the local Methodist church that our lives were enriched. Tulip Tree was just a place to live.

The New College Village has been designed to facilitate community building. We have attempted to recognize that single postgraduate students will want more privacy than undergraduates, but at the same time we have attempted to design the building to allow residents to mill and mix in many shared spaces. We do not want our residents to spend all of their time alone in their rooms. There are four key planks in our strategy to build a vibrant community:

1. We have designed the building to facilitate contact with other people - we will have 14 common rooms, two external courtyards, a rooftop terrace, a games room, business centre, large common room, reading room, private courtyard and convenience store.

2. We will have staff support - every floor will have a residential adviser who has the task of knowing residents, offering pastoral care and academic support and facilitating social interaction.
3. The residents themselves will be encouraged to build an active social programme supported by staff through a residents committee.

4. Alumni and friends of New College will act as mentors and supporters of residents through a fellows programme.

I will provide more details on some of these approaches in future posts.

A week of good progress

2007-11-05T21:36:00.000+11:00

The last week has seen good progress on site in spite of some rain that would have stopped many construction projects. The first footings were poured on Saturday in the rain, and the bricklayers began to build the basement walls today. Stage 1 of the piers was completed today and the basement of the building will soon become more identifiable. The Lipman team is very keen to see the basement floor in place so that the site is clean, the mountain of sand (the 'big top') can be back-filled and stage 2 of the piers completed. The picture opposite shows the foundations beginning to emerge from the sand. Note New College in the background with the the green 4th Floor that was added in 2003-2004.

The sand has been both a curse and a blessing. Workers on site are developing their leg muscles as the move around and there is the constant problem of blowing sand that has been covered. But the good news is that even torrential rain quickly disappears on site, this was the main reason that concrete could be poured on Saturday and the site remains accessible.

Piles aren't just piles!!

2007-10-27T11:25:00.000+10:00

My first job was as a trainee mechanical engineer at BHP (a short lived career) and ever since I think I’ve been a frustrated engineer at heart. My daily visits to the NCV site always throw up new things at which I can to marvel. The piling technique being used for the NCV has been chosen due to the very sandy ground on site. The Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piles (also known as Groutcrete piles) are a non-displacement pile used where fast vibration free installation is required in difficult ground conditions. The drilling process is unaffected by ground water or collapsing soil conditions. The company completing the work is Advanced Foundation Solutions.

The pile is formed by first drilling into the ground with a continuous flight auger. Cement-sand grout or concrete is then injected under pressure through the auger's hollow stem as it is being withdrawn. On completion of this operation, a reinforcing cage is pushed into the fluid column of grout or concrete. Equipment is available to install piles up to 32 metres long but the NCV piles are generally about 10 metres in length. The diagram below shows the key stages in the process, including drilling, pumping the concrete into the hole as the augur is extracted and insertion of the steel reinforcing. For the more technically minded check out this link.

The building requires 170 of these piles and a skilled operating team can complete 10-15 per day when things go well. The first week of drilling had some dramas with teething problems getting the concrete mix right and the machine set. A major breakdown meant that the machine needed to be replaced and a full day was lost. The operators are confident that they can make up for the lost time. Our sandy soil has helped with no time lost this week due to rain. Lipman hopes to see Stage 1 of the piling completed by the end of next week with a second stage of piling slightly later for the non-basement section of the building. The picture below shows the AFP drill on the NCV site drilling on the Anzac Parade side of the building.

Under the New College Big Top

2007-10-20T22:10:00.001+10:00

Progress continues to be good with the NCV. There have been a number of first in the last week:

* The Big Top was pitched (well it looks like one!).
* The first concrete was poured.
* The first piers were put down.

The movement of soil (more like sand) around the site continues mainly due to a change in the method for drilling the piers an extra metre of sand was taken out to allow pier caps to be constructed then back-filled. As a result a great mountain of sand will need to stay on site for the next 4-5 weeks. This has presented challenges for the contractors but this is the only practical thing to do. In order to control dust Lipman has chosen to cover the mound to spare the neighbours and students waiting for buses on Anzac Parade.

Foundations set to begin

2007-10-09T14:27:00.000+10:00

Great progress being made

Progress has been good with the building. Bulk excavation is completed, although there is some level of 'moving stuff around' at the moment. The driveway has been dug to allow for an entrance to the basement of the building and sheet piling of the excavation will begin tomorrow with the first piers to be drilled from Monday 15th October.

People also continue to ask about the location on campus. If you can't visit then the next best thing is to look at the Google Earth image posted earlier. As an update, here's the view that resident's will have as they leave the building each morning to walk up the University Mall to classes or to undertake research.

A prime location on campus!

Bulk Excavation Begins

2007-10-02T13:14:00.000+10:00

The bulk excavation of the site has now commenced. Like most sites there is always a risk of contamination. But the news from continued testing has been good with clean 'virgin' sand uncovered about 1.5 metres down. We were aware that we had a small spot with traces of mercury, but this has been remediated and was simply a 'hot spot' that has been removed. There was a small quantity of asbestos also removed that had been refuse from the packing of joists under the building.

Lipman has also established its more permanent site offices on the Anzac Parade side of the site. They have also re-fenced the site. While there is an RDO across the construction industry today (and hence no work) progress has been good. The photos tell part of the story.

The saga of the Bunya Pine ends

2007-09-20T17:05:00.001+10:00

When we submitted our Development Application for the PGV there were some early obstacles identified. One of them was a large 15+ metre high Bunya Pine. This tree had stood on the site for 50+ years, but was right in the middle of where we wanted to build the North West wing of the building. Council initially said it would need to stay, but this would have been the end of the project as between 35 and 50 rooms would have been lost from the development making it unviable. As it turned out many people were keen to see the end of the Bunya Pine because it has the unfortunate habit of dropping 10kg pine cones every year. Two independent arborists supported us and recommended its removal. While the Bunya is a native of the Queensland rainforest it has a problematic past in urban areas in Australia (and even New Zealand as the report on a problematic tree in the early 1900s suggests) due to the risk of injury to people and property. In fact both the University and the University Army Regiment were keen to see the Bunya removed due to safety issues.

Eventually, when the DA was approved the Randwick Council agreed to its removal conditional on its replacement with another mature tree (no, not a Bunya!). As it is, the PGV will add a number of significant new trees to the campus which will more than compensate for the loss of the Bunya. As well, we will be preserving the row of Box trees on Day Avenue that provide an attractive streetscape to the south. While it was sad to see the big tree fall, it was a justified act based on development and safety issues. And fall it did! I was present to see the tree go down and expected a slow lopping process. But no, as the photos show our demolishers used a large bulldozer that took just a few seconds to push it over, snapping the trunk close to the ground.