Diamond Valley College
Combining new teaching and collaboration spaces to complement existing teaching spaces to form a contemporary STEM teaching facility.
Design Response
Sitting within the bushland campus of Diamond Valley College this new building adjoins the existing technology building, a robust remnant from the school’s past life as an outer suburban tech school. Growing out of a whole of campus masterplan, this first stage includes science, engineering and mathematics teaching spaces – along with a central collaboration space – to form a contemporary STEM teaching facility in combination with the technology spaces within the original building. A diagonal ramp and accompanying stair connect the new facility to the existing campus whilst negotiating the steep, densely replanted embankment. These pathways arrive at the central building entry – with a skylit locker area and cruciform circulation space – which feed into the new facilities to the south and existing facilities to the north.
The design of the project evolved from three key strategies: The first was to connect a symmetrical, axially aligned building to the existing circulation spine of the technology building – which facilitates the central cruciform entry space and shared work area; The second was the overlapping and extruded diamond geometry, an obvious reference to the name of the school and suburb derived from the clear sparkling waters of the diamond creek – which facilitates the south façade as a distinctive marker on the main road, the sculpting of internal spaces and solar control to east and west; The third was the evocative colour palette of the surrounding bushland setting, the flowers, sap, bark and leaves of the red ironbark trees in particular. The dark glazed brick base, the pale green floors, the colour array of student lockers and the ironbark sap window glass over doors, are set against naturally light and reflective materials which capture the delicate colours and shadows of the surrounding landscape
A mechanical ventilation system with integrated CO2 sensors, science lab fume cupboards, split system heating/cooling and CCTV security systems complement the abundance of technical requirements typical of a project of this nature.
Services Provided
- Full Services
Architect
Workshop Architecture
People
Project Director: James Staughton
Project Team: Simone Koch, Yash Ravi, Chenzi Yu
Photographer: John GollingsDate completed
March, 2021
Location
Diamond Creek, Victoria
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