Catholic Regional College Performing Arts Building

The new Performing Arts Building provides much needed flexible learning spaces to facilitate innovative 21st century learning.It comprises of music, dance and drama spaces to create a central music/drama hub and facilitates the strong demand for creative pursuits amongst the students.

Project Details

Architects
Henderson + Lodge Architects

Award
Commendation Category 2: New Construction Major Facility

Address
380 Sydenham Road Sydenham Melbourne, Victoria 3037 Australia

Submitter
Henderson + Lodge Architects

Cost
$1,200,000

Photographer
Antony Richards

Project Overview

The building accommodates three Music Studios with associated Stores and a Drama / Dance Studio with a sprung floor and full height mirrored walls. Each Studio has bifolding doors which open the learning space to the adjacent outdoor garden areas thus creating a series of stages for recitals and performances.

The College had previously been operating its performing Arts program from a number of relocatable classrooms dispersed around the College site. Part of the planning and design brief was for the new building to provide a sense of place for the performing arts students that inspired and gave ownership to them. To create a precinct where staff and students could collaborate positively and the design would inform their learning.

Large retractable doors between Studios allow for flexibility between internal spaces allowing them to be used individually or collectively. The studios can accommodate smaller groups of students for music rehearsals, or alternatively operate in a more traditional classroom set up for theory classes.

Yet the students learning experiences are not entirely conventional, with full height glass wall surfaces which enable students and teachers to creatively engage in learning by using these surfaces like a whiteboard.

Design detailing such as the sound wave design in the carpet tiles & the glass finish to wall areas contribute to practical and inspiring spaces to facilitate the learning objectives of the College. The playful use of recycled music for the light shades reinforces the thematic elements of the interior architecture like the use of coloured text decals on the glass windows and doors.

Extensive acoustic wall and ceiling insulation and interior acoustic treatment create superior learning spaces which can operate independently or as a whole, without disturbing adjacent classes.

Efficient water usage includes the installation of rain water tanks for water harvesting. The rain water is collected and distributed to adjacent garden areas.

The external timber cladding demonstrates the usage of responsibly harvested timber from carefully managed resources which contributes to the environmental sustainability of the project.

The flexible, diverse and changing curriculum of the secondary sector encompassing VCE, VCAL and VET studies, has been accommodated & reflected in the new performing arts facility, and aims to inspire many years of future learning.