The Australian Environmental Studies Building is unique and irreplaceable!

It was the first of its kind in Australia and one of the first in the world. It was built on Griffith University’s Nathan Campus in 1976/77 accommodating and facilitating one of the University’s foundational Schools.

The school itself nurtured what we now call Sustainability.

Saving the Australian Environmental Studies Building is about far more than the building: it’s about demonstrating and strengthening a way of thinking essential to a sustainable and sustaining future for us all.

The University has value and opportunities in the Australian Environmental Studies Building, the nature of its Nathan Campus and the future of education that it doesn’t seem to understand.

Now it’s the 21st Century and thinking has developed. We all know that the most sustainable building by far is one that already exists. We understand the destruction caused by Architecture and new buildings. Adaptation, re-use and recycling are central to sustainability.

What does destroying the building say? Destroying the building questions the credibility of the University. The days of unconsidered destruction and replacement are over. Or they should be.

Griffith University is perhaps, no longer in touch with its foundations. Is the University listening to its own lessons and keeping up with contemporary thinking?