Building Highlight - Marie Reay Teaching Centre and Di Ridell Student Centre

Marie Reay Teaching Centre

The Marie Reay Teaching Centre is one of the centrepieces of the Kambri development. Described as “an articulated box of formal and informal teaching spaces, with an expressed timber structure and glass façade" (Oldfield 2020), the six-storey building consists of mostly open floors connected by a striking timber stairwell. The space is designed to be highly flexible and multipurpose, with the ground floor amphitheatre being the only area with built-in furniture. In this way the building can be used for large seminars or small group study. Arguably the most stunning feature of the building is a large open floor with exposed timber roof trusses and panoramic views of the city.  

The building is named in honour of anthropologist Marie Reay. Marie was very interested in Indigenous Australians and undertook extensive fieldwork among Aboriginal communities in north-western NSW, becoming the first anthropologist to study contemporary conditions among these groups in the mid-1940s. Marie spent four years working with Aboriginal communities in Walgett, Bourke, Moree and Coonabarabran and later extended her fieldwork to Indigenous communities in Borroloola, Northern Territory. In the early 1950s Marie won a scholarship to study at the Research School of Pacific Studies (now Pacific and Asian Studies) at the newly established ANU. She travelled to Papua New Guinea and undertook pioneering fieldwork among the Kuma, becoming the first female anthropologist to go to the region. In 1959 Marie took up an appointment as a Research Fellow at the Research School of Pacific Studies at ANU, where she remained as a member of the Department of Anthropology until her retirement in 1988 having been promoted to Fellow and later Senior Fellow.  

Di Riddell Student Centre

The Di Riddell Student Centre is one of the centrepieces of the ANU’s Kambri development. It is a striking four-level building that is home to ANU Student Central, ANU Student Association (ANUSA), Postgraduate and Research Student Association (PARSA), and several student services teams.  

The building is named in honour of Di Riddell, who was for many years affectionately thought of as the mother to all ANU students. Di’s career at the ANU spanned three decades. In 1965 she commenced in the role of Administrative Secretary in the ANU Students' Association. She stayed in this role until 1990 until taking the role of manager of the ANU Arts Centre, a position she held until her retirement in 1995. Di worked tirelessly to improve the lives of students, particularly through her work in improving student accommodation, health, welfare and financial services.  

References

ANU Strategic Communications & Public Affairs 2019, A mother to all students: remembering Di Riddell, ANU Newsroom,

Harrison, S 2014, Reay, Marie Olive, The Encyclopedia of Women & Leadership in Twentieth Century Australia,

InDesign Media Asia Pacific n.d., Marie Reay Teaching Centre ANU,  

Oldfield, P 2020, Architectural balancing act: Kambri at ANU, ArchitectureAU,