Since 2005 this prestigious school has been slowly transitioning to a larger new campus in the middle of Phillip Island. The new Senior Learning Centre accommodates students approaching graduation in years 10-12 at the new campus.
In addition to the Senior Learning Centre, the new facilities provide more nuanced, purposeful learning spaces to support a broad-based pedagogy across the school. There are a range of informal zones for smaller groups and collaborative study-based work, plus specialist spaces centred around science and arts. Take for example, the materials workshop, where students can participate in hands-on learning opportunities with electronics, robotics, coding, design, multimedia, printing and fabrication.
Senior Associate at Hayball, Owen West said they wanted to create a mature setting for students where they could work together on small projects – a skill that’s essential in any career.
“We took a lot of inspiration from modern co-working spaces – the look and feel and how they utilise space – to emulate workplaces of the future,” he said.
“In terms of the architectural response, rather than creating two distinct buildings, we approached the design by creating one building across two sites with a similar architectural language, separated by an existing campus road.
“Specific site conditions were also a big factor behind the design. Taking into account the strong winds for which the island is infamous, our design utilised every possibility to mitigate the effect of the elements. The buildings are shaped to create protective outdoor spaces, while walkways have added weather protection. We also selected high quality materials to address the challenges of building in coastal areas like Philip Island,” Said Mr Owen.