A media hub created above a gym and a 1,000 seat theatre in a 19th century jail are among this year’s winners in the prestigious Victorian School Design Awards.
Parliamentary Secretary for Education Judith Graley announced the winners last night at a special awards ceremony at Federation Square attended by some of Melbourne’s leading architects and education officials.
The Andrews Labor Government re-established the awards last year to recognise the role of architects and designers in transforming our state schools with their leading-edge designs.
This new wave of design, part of the state’s $2.5 billion overhaul of school buildings, is fast earning Victoria a reputation as a world leader in school design.
At last night’s awards, Architects Six Degrees won two of the six categories for its projects at Albert Park College in Melbourne. The first was for a Media Hub on a new mezzanine floor built in a ceiling void above the school’s gym. The second was for an Environmental Arts Hub created inside two heritage-listed buildings at the school.
Y2 Architecture’s inspiration for a 1000 seat theatre inside an old jail at Bendigo Secondary College won the award for Best School Project Above $5 million. The theatre, which will also be used by the wider community, will give students a unique opportunity to learn in a historic setting.
Other winners were Hayball Architecture for its conversion of a gym into a learning centre at Dandenong South Primary School; Kneeler Design for a new Science and Maths Centre at Vermont Secondary College; Clarke Hopkins Clarke for the new Mernda Central P-12 College, part of the $291 million Public Private Partnership behind 15 new schools in Victoria’s fast growing areas.
The Ministerial Award for Inclusive Design was given to Gray Puksand for the START Trade Training Centre at the Chisholm TAFE in Frankston.
The awards were open to architects and principal designers who designed Victorian Government school buildings completed between 1 January 2015 and 1 June 2017.
More than 1,000 school upgrades and 56 new schools are being rolled out across Victoria under the Government’s education construction boom as it makes Victoria the Education State.
Every child, no matter where they live, will have access to a great local school with high-quality learning facilities tailored to their needs.
Quotes attributable to Parliamentary Secretary for Education Judith Graley
“Victoria is recognised worldwide for the quality and innovation of our school designs and these awards recognise the critical role of our architects and designers in creating spaces that will transform the learning experience for our students.”
“With our rapid population growth we certainly need more schools. But we also need better schools with modern designs and equipment to deliver a 21st century education.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020