‘e’ Learning Centre – Chisholm Catholic College

The concept for Chisholm College’s ‘e’Learning Centre was for a new library and IT centre to express the College’s philosophy towards education and future learning trends. The Centre was the last of a multi-stage building program in a very large multicultural secondary school. The brief to the architects was to design a building that had to be both complimentary to the surrounding built environment, yet make a definite statement about its intent and use.

Whilst the existing College buildings are of solid brick and tile construction, the new ‘e’Learning Centre is a lightweight glass building that sits within the heart of the College, is fully transparent from the inside and reflects its surroundings externally.

The brief required the inclusion of the latest technology in line with current educational pedagogy and philosophy in a school where all students have access to one-to-one mobile devices. Library and ‘e’Learning staffs were consulted continually throughout the planning process and designs were adapted in response to staff inputs. This has resulted in the creation of a Centre for students to embrace electronic information technology and also prepare them ultimately for a more self-directed tertiary learning experience.

The interior of the Centre is completely open planned across and between both floors. It includes an open area ‘classroom’, two boardroom-like seminar spaces, six-seat booths with video screens for collaborative, small group work. There are ‘internet cafe’-type benches with computer terminals, a tiered ‘stadium’ style seating area with plush cushions for lounging. Ccomfortable lounges and chairs are scattered throughout the building for recreational reading and socialising. Overall, the flexibility of the spaces accommodates student groupings from individuals and small groups, to tutorial and full size class groups as well as multiple classes for larger seminars. Students are in an environment where they become responsible for their own learning. They may be engaged in self-paced, asynchronous learning or instructor-led synchronous learning; they collaborate more and the use of electronic devices is prevalent.

The building has exceeded expectations in becoming the hub of the College. Popular with students before and after school, the building is also at capacity during lunch times.