A Future for the Club - The Story So Far
- 18 Oct 2012 - Recommendations made to the University Resources and Finance Committee to:
- Refurbish and relaunch under a contractor run model to reinvigorate the Club (incorporating a ‘hybrid’ operating model)
- Hybrid operating model to include an outward facing café for students, staff, and general public and a restricted access business club for staff, previous staff, alumni and HDR candidates only
- Waive outstanding club debts to the University
- 29 May 2013 - Recommendation formally made to Club Members at Annual General Meeting that Club be wound up
- Arrangements made for operators of ‘Artichoke and Whitebait’ (Clayton Campus Centre) to run temporary Staff Club out of the ‘Joes’ facility while Building 50 is refurbished
- 28 June 2013 - Monash Club Building 50 operation closes
- 1 July 2013 - Temporary staff club facility (Joes) commences
Once the decision to close the previous operation was made there were many issues to be considered:
- How should the facility ‘look and feel’ and what sort of amenities should it contain?
- Under what sort of business model should it run under?
- What level of refurbishment is the University prepared to undertake?
Design considerations
The refurbished facility to incorporate the following:
- Facilities to replace the Monash Metro/business lounge
- Bookable meeting rooms
- Private dining area(s)
- Café style dining areas
- Informal workspaces
- Function space
Appointment of the Architect
A tender process was undertaken to identify an architect to prepare a modern and vibrant design that would best enable building 50 to serve the purposes identified by the University.
Extract from tender doc:
"The university seeks to provide a high quality, multi purpose meeting place for staff and guests to relax, meet, dine and/or work temporarily at Monash University Clayton Campus"
Architect engaged: Jackson Clements Burrows
- Respected Melbourne based architect
- Highly experienced in retail/commercial including café/catering design
- Considerable experience in tertiary sector (incl Northwest Precinct Project at Monash Clayton Campus)
Timelines
- September/October 2013 - Engagement of Consultant Team
- End of October 2013 - Schematic Design completion and signoff
- November 2013 - Early Works Tender and Award
- December 2013 - Early Works Completion
- December 2013 - Design Development completion and signoff
- Early July 2014 - Building works required to be complete
- Late July 2014 - Operations commence