Deakin Res Welcomes Our Newest Addition

The latest build at Deakin Residential Services Geelong Waurn Ponds campus features two components, a fourth residential college, Willem Yaluk (meaning River home to the local Indigenous Wadawurrung people), a Village Green and Town Hall which provides a central point for the larger residential precinct. This fourth residential college comprises of 320 student bedrooms and includes a large shared common area. The Town Hall holds up to 300 residents for larger scale events, and the Village Green, adjacent to the new Reception building, is the perfect meeting point or place for residents to gather. 

Marion Bayley, General Manager Geelong and Head of Operations, is thrilled to see this particular project come to fruition and open in time for new and returning residents in 2021. Seventy Medical Imaging and Doctor of Medicine students have already checked-in to the new accommodation in recent weeks.   

Nettleton Tribe Architects designed each element of the new build to strategically fit with existing residential facilities, including those established as far back as the 1970’s right up to Parkes College, built in 2014.  

Marion notes, “Waurn Ponds is known for its open spaces and low-level buildings, so this design was intended to maintain the small town and village community ambiance.” 

Deakin Residential Services’ Waurn Ponds residences have long been popular, with high demand from students for accommodation each year, with many unable to secure a place in the past. Marion highlights that “….this new build is a wonderful and much needed expansion, allowing us to now accommodate and support more students to live on campus, and to experience the benefits of independent living, greater academic success and the personal development which accompanies living within such a supported environment.”  

Geelong, and the Waurn Ponds campus in particular, offers an outstanding experience for those coming to University and leaving home for the first time. “As a regional city, just under an hour from Melbourne CBD, it offers the flexibility and convenience of shops, fantastic restaurants and bars, as well as still having the feel that you are in a regional centre with plenty of open spaces and trees. The campus itself offers an elite sporting precinct, medical school and connection to the Epworth Hospital. The waterways and running track mean that you can take a 5km run or walk around the campus from your doorstep, which is quite unique and a part of what makes living on the university grounds at Deakin so special.” 

2021 is already shaping up to be a fantastic year for residents living at Deakin.