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Arata Isozaki, a Japanese architect of international repute, designed the Arch building which houses the Library and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in two wings. The West and East Wings are linked by a two storey arch, housing the School of Information Technology and administration offices. The building looks out onto Lake Orr, a man-made lake.
The Arch is covered in local Helidon sandstone cladding, quarried east of Toowoomba. This was chosen to create a look of beauty and permanence with its distinctive contours, colours and lifespan. Approximately 10,000 square metres of quarry tiles are used for walkways on campus together with 10,000 square metres of paving stones from Victoria for internal roadways.
The bell tower is found on the northern corner of the Business Faculty building. At the top of the tower are nine brass bells, cast at the Royal Eijsbouts Foundry in Holland in 1989. The bells are a slightly different shape from traditional bells, which gives them the ability to play tunes in a major rather than a minor key. These are the first bells of this type to be hung in Australia.
The bells are linked to an electronic system which allows staff to program them to play different tunes at pre-arranged times each day.
The Business Faculty building has four levels and is across the piazza from the Law Faculty building which is a mirror image. In place of the bells is a clock, which sets off bell ringing at certain times of the day.
The distinctively shaped lake is the focal point of the campus, providing spectacular reflections by day and night, with an amphitheatre for outdoor concerts and other activities. A series of steps provides seating while the lawns provide a green belt where students can socialise.
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