New construction milestone for world-class ECU City

Major progress is being made on ECU City with the recent installation of a 265-tonne truss on site.

The impressive structure, which forms a cube of around 40 pieces, took approximately three weeks to build after months of meticulous planning.

The truss is an important structural element that has been designed to support the 11-super-level university campus.

With ECU City sitting atop the bustling Perth Busport, the assembly and installation of the structure proved an engineering challenge.

Luke Munro, Senior Project Engineer from ECU City’s Head Contractor, Multiplex, said extensive planning preceded the truss installation.

“The truss was pre-assembled in a factory before being transported to the Perth CBD in smaller sections,” he said.

“The heaviest piece weighed 13 tonnes and each section was carefully lifted into place and pieced together like a giant Meccano set.”

Edward Doherty, Project Delivery Lead, ECU City Campus, said the milestone symbolised the impressive scale of the ECU City project.

“ECU City is pushing the boundaries in terms of design and construction and this 60,000-square-metre campus in the heart of the city will be a very exciting addition to the Perth landscape,” he added.

“There is a really great energy on site, and you can feel that everyone is passionate about the project.”

Since main construction on ECU City started earlier this year, work has rapidly progressed as the world-class campus emerged from the ground. Four tower cranes have been installed, the foundations and piling works are complete, and ground floor slabs have been poured.

Mr Doherty said the next few months would see the project team finalising the detailed designs for some of the innovative performance venues in the campus, as well as continuing construction works.

"With the installation of the truss and the structure coming out of the ground we will start to get a greater sense of the scale of this project – and what is to come",” he added.

The landmark project is on track to welcome more than 10,000 students and staff to learn, work, thrive and perform in the heart of the city from semester one, 2026.

The multi-disciplinary campus will be home to ECU’s renowned Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), School of Business and Law, programs from the School of Arts and Humanities – including the WA Screen Academy and Broadcasting – emerging technology programs from the School of Science, and Kurongkurl Katitjin – the university’s Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research.

The $853 million landmark project is part of the Perth City Deal, a collaboration between the Australian Government, the Western Australian Government and ECU, to deliver Perth’s first fully comprehensive inner-city university campus.

Visit the ECU City LinkedIn page to follow the journey.