The University is located across four campuses, three in Melbourne and one in Malaysia. In 2017, ARCH was engaged to complete the Master Plan Refresh project to provide a detailed analysis of the opportunities afforded by the Masterplan 2016, also completed by ARCH, and to recommend key project initiatives that could support the University's Strategic and Operational Plan 2017-2025.

In line with our approach to education, the Masterplan Refresh project also addressed the changing dynamics of teaching,  learning, and research and reconsidered how physical space, campus facilities, and site-wide infrastructure best supported a future-focused tertiary institution.

Tertiary campus masterplans must address a range of complex issues to provide ongoing meaningful guidance to development. ARCH's approach addresses the core academic facility pipeline and the increasing importance of broader connections with communities in which universities are embedded.

The Swinburne Masterplan Refresh addressed the following core issues affecting facility provision and external engagement:

• The provision of teaching and learning spaces that enable and support transition to contemporary pedagogies
• Focus on the provision of informal learning and social spaces for students
• Development of collaborative research hubs to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration
• Support for cooperative and collaborative academic and professional staff engagement
• The efficiency of space allocation in the context of overall space utilisation
• The consideration of community interfaces and improvement of connections between the campuses and adjacent or nearby public/community spaces
• The consideration of sites with mixed-use potential that could maximise commercial, industrial and retail co-location, revenue, and brand enhancement opportunities
• Ongoing review of the effectiveness of wayfinding, identity and activation of both internal and external spaces as the campuses change over time
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As part of the Masterplan exercise, a Space Model Analysis was conducted by examining space utilisation rates, using campus data linked to staff loading and EFTSL numbers, to determine total future building use requirements.

The Total Building Space requirement was calculated by multiplying the amount of teaching space by the utilisation rate to express teaching space as a function of usable hours. This value was then divided by the campus EFTSL. The figure was set to zero for 2016, with the model estimating the amount of space required to accommodate future growth.

A sensitivity analysis was undertaken to determine the effects on space demand depending on student load projections.