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# Curtin Exchange Precinct
- URL: https://knowledgebase.landscapefoundation.org.au/curtin-exchange-precinct/
- Published: 2026-09-21T12:50:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T12:50:59.000Z
- Description: How former carparks and sporting fields at Curtin University became a 4.9-hectare precinct guided by Whadjuk Noongar Songlines, with 32% less peak stormwater, 45% less potable water use and an 8.5-fold increase in plant diversity.
- Author: Chris Champion
- Tags: Case study, Landscape Performance Case Studies, 2024, Biodiversity & habitat, Water & WSUD, Trees & canopy, Issana Burhan, Peter Newman

| Program         | 2024 Landscape Performance Case Studies              |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Location        | Bentley, Western Australia — Whadjuk Noongar Country |
| Project type    | University campus landscape                          |
| Former land use | Carparks and sporting fields                         |
| Size            | 4.9 ha                                               |
| Budget          | A$25 million, including bus interchange              |
| Completed       | December 2021                                        |
| Designers       | REALMstudios; PLACE Laboratory                       |
| Research team   | Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute    |

## Summary

At Curtin University, eight kilometres south-east of Perth's CBD, former carparks and sporting fields have become a dense, net-zero precinct of student accommodation, social spaces and outdoor settings for teaching and learning — held together by the landscape.

The design is guided by *Winin Katidjin Bilya*, the Living Knowledge Stream, which honours the intersection of two Whadjuk Noongar Songlines. It traces a seasonal spring that once fed a wetland leading to the Canning River. A network of green infrastructure — roof gardens, green walls, rain gardens and swales — physically connects the Songlines, while the foraging habitat of the endangered Carnaby's Black Cockatoo shaped the planting.

For practitioners and asset owners, the value is in the measurement: this case study quantifies what a culturally grounded, green-infrastructure-led campus precinct actually delivers across environmental, economic, social and cultural performance.

## Key findings

- **Peak stormwater flow reduced by 32%** — from 561.5 to 382.2 L/s — through roof runoff harvesting, rain gardens and swales.
- **Potable water use cut by 45%**, with around 5,000 kL of rainwater harvested annually to underground storage.
- **An 8.5-fold increase in plant diversity**, from about 20 species before development to 169 — 68% native, and 21% suited to Carnaby's Black Cockatoo foraging.
- **At least 53 bird species observed**, including the endangered Carnaby's and vulnerable Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.
- **98.63% occupancy of student accommodation**, with half of residents surveyed citing the location and landscape design as the reason they chose it.
- **60–70% of site users engaged in group activities**, and over half spending more than fifteen minutes in the space.

## Lessons learned

- Collaboration across the university, designers, engineers and the development consortium set a precedent for integrating green infrastructure based on cultural knowledge.
- Educational opportunities in the landscape were underused, and now have a setting through which to reach a wider audience.
- Polystyrene void formers were chosen for cost and insulation; future projects should explore recycled-plastic structural cells instead.
- Planting on structure needs more maintenance, soil improvement and careful species choice than deep-soil planting.

## Downloads

[**Download: Case study (17 pp)**](https://knowledgebase.landscapefoundation.org.au/files/lpcs-2024-curtin-exchange-precinct-case-study.pdf)

[**Download: Methods report**](https://knowledgebase.landscapefoundation.org.au/files/lpcs-2024-curtin-exchange-precinct-methods-report.pdf)

## Cite as

Burhan, Issana and Peter Newman. “Curtin Exchange Precinct at Curtin University.” *Landscape Performance Case Studies Program.* Landscape Foundation of Australia, 2024.