See inside Australian National University's new Yukeembruk residence

On Saturday, residents of the Yukeembruk village, the Australian National University's newest on-campus accommodation, unpacked their things and waved goodbye to their parents.

The collection of towers has 731 beds, with just under 600 of those designated for undergraduate students and the rest for postgraduate.

With large kitchens, bike parking for every student, a half-basketball court and spacious common areas, community coordinator Angus Brooks said new students and those from other residential halls had been attracted to the new facilities.

"I'm very confident that we'll fill every bed. There's been substantial demand and there's huge demand in general for on campus accommodation," he said.

"It is the newest and it does have more facilities than any of the other residences. And I think people are very keen to come here."

With the weekly cost of living at the residence (known as the tariff) starting from $369, it's the most expensive non-catered option on campus.

The building project got off to a rocky start. The neighbouring Burgmann College launched legal action in 2019 because the new accommodation impinged on its sublease.

Yukeembruk was initially slated to be completed by 2021, but in 2020 the project was paused for 10 months as the university reassessed financial viability when the pandemic hit.

The delays had a silver lining as it allowed for more student input into the design. The kitchens were expanded and more balconies were put in as a result.

Students will be able to participate in MasterChef-style cooking demonstrations because one of the kitchens is fitted out with a video camera on the ceiling which can broadcast to screens in the other kitchens.

"We often have students come here that perhaps want to go into a catered hall or maybe they just don't know how to cook," Mr Brooks said.

"So we can actually teach them how to cook, which is exciting. That hopefully should put some parents at ease as well."

The building has been designed with sustainability in mind. The bedrooms do not have air conditioning but come with ceiling fans and the ability to cross-ventilate the floors.

Students will be encouraged to leave their car at home and there is enough secure bike parking for every resident. There's space for hobbies, such as music, art and crafts and growing plants in the community garden.

Planning has gone into how to build a positive culture and social life in such a large community of young people.

The residence has a higher number of staff than other residences. Thirty senior residents, who are returning ANU students, have been hired across Yukeembruk. Each one is responsible for the pastoral care of 25 students on their hall.

Senior residents are managed by three community coordinators and the head of hall and deputy head of hall.

Senior resident Sophie Styles said the team had borrowed elements from other colleges to help lay the foundations for the new community.

"We've had a lot of discussions among the senior residents and the head of hall and deputy head about how we can create a good culture and make sure that these first years have a great time on campus because it really sets the tone for the rest of their degree," she said.

"We've had a lot of discussions about the sorts of events we want to run, how they fit in with the values we want to see at Yukeembruk and even how to set up the residence committee so that it is really representative of the community."

The team have lots of activities prepared for O-Week next week, but the events will be dry until Thursday to help people settle in without the influence of alcohol.

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There will be movie nights, pancake breakfasts, barbecues and a T-shirt tie-dyeing event to encourage students to mingle.

The foundation cohort will be involved in forming Yukeembruk's mascot, colours, logos and traditions.

An early front-runner for a mascot is the turtle, a nod to the turtle nest on the banks of Sullivans Creek.

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