Kambri is undoubtedly the hub of campus activity, and in 2025, this will be no different. I will continue to look to Kambri lawns to preempt the fashion trends of the semester and lean on the $5 Barley Griffin from Badger when times get rough. And yet, as much as I value what Kambri means to me in the present day, it is only with a deep appreciation of the area’s history that my relationship with the precinct can really get to the next base.

University Avenue became a pedestrian plaza in 1972. Around the same time, the ANU Union building was developed, most well-known for housing the beloved ANU Bar (and the ANU union, I guess). The bar hosted Cold Chisel in 1979. In 1990, it was Midnight Oil, and in 1992, Nirvana.

This area was more officially developed as a student space in 2001 following the redevelopment of the carpark in front of Chifley Library into a large open courtyard. Union Court was officially born.

Where the Di Riddell Building, Marie Reay, Fenner Hall and Badger currently stand, was once an expansive courtyard supervised dutifully by those watching above from Chifley Library. If you love sitting on Kambri Lawns now, imagine how great it would have been when you didn’t have to compete for a patch of grass.

The university announced the Union Court Redevelopment project in 2016, with the aim of “putting the heart back into campus” and accommodating the growing need for updated student facilities. The redevelopment was expansive and cost the university around $263 million. It included:

• Relocating, repurposing, and rebuilding the Union Building (now the Di Riddell Building)
• Relocating Fenner Hall from Northbourne Avenue and constructing its new residence in the precinct
• Constructing a 6-storey student building with classrooms and study spaces (now, Marie Reay)
• Constructing a Health and Wellbeing Centre, including pool and gym facilities, accessible to the general public

Fret not, however, as whilst it appears that next to nothing of old Union Court remains, rest assured there are survivors of the redevelopment — Chifley Library and Sushi Smith.

Demolition of the buildings in the area began in 2017, with construction of the new precinct commencing in mid-2017. The Kambri Precinct officially opened for the start of Semester 1 in 2019. The name “Kambri” was gifted to the ANU by Ngambri, Ngunnawal, and Wiradyuri elder Dr Matilda House following consultation with representatives of four ACT Indigenous groups.

The Kambri Precinct as we know it today is only six years old — but with only a quick glance at its history, it is clear that this area has been the centre of student life on campus for almost as long as the university has existed. What feels like home to us now is unrecognisable to students who graduated not long ago.

Pages and pages of old editions of Woroni hold student love letters to the courtyard that was. The Union Court redevelopment worried students about the potential gentrification of campus. In Edition 2 of Woroni 2019, Vanamali Hermans writes, “As it stands, Kambri represents only the gentrified shell of…possibility, pricing too many of us out.” She expresses concern at the practicalities of Kambri honouring its name and truly serving as a meeting place, given the influx of external businesses announced to have leases in the precinct. These concerns remain all too true in the present day, however it’s hard to really compare how much of an impact this has had on campus activity. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, today’s students will know no difference. I’ll continue to buy my lunch bowls from Urban Tiger and pretend as if the price wasn’t lower last year. 

Students of the time also expressed concern that the new buildings in the area would make protests and gatherings on campus far more difficult with the reduced space available. These concerns were and continue to be very real — it’s no wonder that a university campus in the heart of the nation’s capital has a rich history of activism, one which even the ANU itself cites as making our history so unique.

In February 1989, the National Union of Students organised a campaign at the ANU against the introduction of HECS. In 2014, students protested the Liberal Government’s deregulation of university fees. In both instances, students hung banners on the bridge crossing Sullivans Creek onto North Road, then marched to the Chancellery demanding the support of the Vice Chancellor. Protests at ANU continue to follow this pattern, gathering in Kambri before confronting the Chancellery Building.

In 1992, students established “Tent City” outside Chifley Library as part of a student housing protest and against university plans to sell off housing stock. In 2024, the ANU Gaza Solidarity Encampment was established on Kambri Lawn, protesting ANU’s investment in weapons companies arming the genocide in Palestine. It followed similar student movements at universities internationally and was the longest lasting encampment across Australia, lasting for over 100 days.

This is all to say that things are not as different as they may seem — student activism is alive and well in Kambri and in familiar company. Whilst I may never experience the “culture” that students of years past tell me they miss about Union Court, I don’t feel as if I’m missing out, and it has certainly stifled nothing. While Union Court and Kambri differ in almost every regard, student passion and protest have nonetheless endured.

Next time you’re sitting on Kambri Lawns, perhaps instead of merely watching the people around you, think about all that has come before you in that very same spot.

For First-Year ANU students, Kambri may seem intimidating at times. Find solace in knowing that across the last five decades, Kambri has been hundreds of thousands of students’ backyard for but a brief point in their lives. You’re in great company.