The building is named after Australian-Chinese billionaire businessman, Dr Chau Chak Wing, who donated $20 million towards the $180 million project designed to accommodate some 2000 business school students and staff.

The building was designed by Frank Gehry, one of the worlds most renowned architects, who conceptualised a treehouse shaped building with a central trunk for circulation and many branches for learning and reflecting. The resulting form is truly one of a kind, made up of a rippling brick façade using 320,000 custom designed bricks, and a faceted glass façade to the west. Reflecting its external appearance, the internal space was designed to be fluid, flexible and manipulated over time. Its central trunk, stairs and circulation spaces are designed to encourage students and staff to rub shoulders, all promoting a more egalitarian and collegiate approach to learning

As described by AG Coombs, who were appointed to deliver the mechanical and HVAC services, meeting the needs of the multi-purpose spaces and integrating air distribution into the irregular shapes and voids was a key challenge. The resulting solution was made possible with Celmec’s aerodynamically configured, low pressure VAV Terminal Units. In conjunction with Celmec’s VAV’s and their iconic Volume and Smoke Control Dampers, the project achieved a 5 Star Green Star Environmental rating, aided by smart systems to activate or fully shut off unoccupied spaces to save energy.