We’ve won an award!
Australian Good Design Award for Western Sydney University’s Factory of the Future: The Innovation Engine
Stakk Studio has won an Australian Good Design Award for Western Sydney University Factory of the Future: The Innovation Engine — and we want to celebrate this moment with everyone who helped bring it to life.
If you haven’t already read our Western Sydney University - Concept for the Future, we dive deeper into how the project came together — the concept, the process, and the end result.
Stakk Studio was entrusted to bring engagement and energy to Western Sydney University’s Bankstown City Campus, celebrating the new Factory of the Future, led by HDR Architects and Solutions Consulting Australia.
At the heart of the Factory of the Future sits The Innovation Engine: a robotic ceiling installation designed to tell a story of past, present, and future. The piece celebrates Bankstown’s rich legacy in aviation and engineering, from De Havilland to Boeing, collaborating with local industries to fabricate and install key elements.
Suspended above Western Sydney University’s advanced manufacturing workshop, The Innovation Engine reflects the technology that surrounds it; it demonstrates how the same tools in every student’s hands can be used to create something remarkable. The dynamic installation immerses visitors in a multisensory experience as the structure shifts and breathes overhead, inviting curiosity and innovation.
As a small studio, Stakk ensures the same hands that sketch each detail also tighten every bolt. The studio used a human-centred approach to optimise complex parts for machine production, reducing assembly time and waste. Radial symmetry and precise loading allowed each module to be installed with minimal mechanical assistance. Designed with future-proofing in mind, every component can be serviced, replaced, or adapted as the space evolves.
This project was made possible through collaboration with many dedicated partners.
We’d like to thank:
Our biggest supporter, Western Sydney University, for trusting Stakk Studio to bring this space, and its vision, to life.
HDR Architects - from the first sketch to the final build, our partners in design.
Solutions Consulting Australia - for its guidance and insight.
Built - for its on-site expertise, keeping the install seamless from start to finish.
NDY - for its vital coordination, ensuring every detail fit within the space.
TTW - for their collaboration on brave new endeavours
Finally, thank you to the Australian Good Design Awards’ team for recognising this project within the 2025 theme “Designing for Better.” Their continued work champions design as a force for positive change and strengthens the community that drives it.
We’re proud that the judges’ comments captured what we set out to achieve:
“The Factory of the Future at WSU [Western Sydney University’s Bankstown City Campus] creates a vision of next-generation manufacturing and innovation. A vibrant installation, achieved through collaboration between university and practice. The installation stimulates insights into the potential future of manufacturing, the design studio and the direct engagement between the two. Visually impactful and attention grabbing. The ceiling mounted sculpture is visually impactful and demonstrates a strong integration of innovation and engineering design. If you don’t get inspired in this room, we doubt you ever will! An outstanding contribution to good design.”
We look forward to seeing the great things to come from Western Sydney University’s Factory of the Future.