A development application has been submitted for the construction of the second stage of the Tertiary Education centre at Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter Valley.

The new building provides flexible laboratory and teaching space on a prominent site on Bridge Street. The project completes a grouping of buildings that includes two heritage items – Loxton House and Weidman Cottage, two of the oldest structures in the historic town.

As part of the works, Loxton House will be adaptively re-used with the conversion of the upper level into an innovation hub – providing flexible workspace for research, with the two buildings linked via a glazed bridge. A defining aspect of the project is the creation of a new covered pubic space that brings together the three structures, and creates an entry portico for the centre – an integral part of a wider plan to unify the education precinct with a series of new public spaces and facilities.