An innovative university campus that boldly threw out traditional architecture to suit its environment has won a NSW branch Royal Australian Institute of Architects prize.

Charles Sturt University's (CSU) Interactive Learning Centre in Dubbo was today awarded the Institute's Environment Award.

The new Centre, opened in October last year, is the first stage of the University's 'clever campus' on a 70 hectare site in Dubbo.

The landmark building was a benchmark, according to the Institute, for integrating state-of-the-art environmental technologies such as passive evaporative "shower towers" to provide cooling in Dubbo's hot dry climate.

The four evaporative cooling shower towers protrude into the sky, sucking in the dry hot outside air and funnelling the cooled air through a central atrium.

Charles Sturt University's Director of Design Marci Webster-Mannison, said it was a bold response to the considerations of the site, climate and function.

"The innovative architectural response mirrors the University's educational philosophy," she said.

"The place is deliberately exciting, inviting students, staff and visitors to a myriad of learning and teaching resources."

This latest award follows a string of accolades for the University's environmentally-sensitive Thurgoona Campus at Albury-Wodonga, also designed by Webster-Mannison and her CSU team.