Officer Secondary College
Officer Secondary College dominates its green field site with a bold and distinctive two story building. Its vibrant exterior has a strong graphic design element and this distinctive feature is cleverly carried throughout the building’s interior.
Its open plan learning spaces allow for best practice teaching and learning and the seamless integration of e-learning into the classroom. Flexibility is the key to understanding the design brief of this school.
Classrooms are light filled, colourful spaces punctuated by reading nooks and break out spaces that further enhance the flexibility of the space.
One impressive feature lies in the acoustic treatment of the learning spaces. It is quite a feat to create open plan, flexible learning spaces that still enable quiet, purposeful learning.
The classrooms integrate well with the landscape design and the ability to interact with the natural environment is a particularly impressive feature of this design.
Overall, Clarke Hopkins Clarke have created a bright and distinctive learning environment that clearly meets the challenge of 21st century learning.
Project Details
Architects
Clarke Hopkins Clarke Architects
Award
Commendation Category 1 New Educational Facility Construction/Entire Educational Facility
Address
1 Parker Street, Officer VIC 3089
Submitter
Wayne Stephens
Cost
$27,120,126
Photographer
Rhiannon Slatter of Rhiannon Slatter Photographer
Project Overview
Officer Secondary College was conceived as part of a broader educational vision and masterplan for an Educational Precinct which would co-locate a Secondary College and Specialist School on a single campus, and form the vibrant heart of the growing Officer community. Located in a rapidly developing outer suburb in Melbourne’s south east, Officer Secondary College is designed to build strong community connections, and provide technology enabled, differentiated learning environments that support personalised, student-centred learning.
The design features differentiated learning spaces across a double-storey layout, purpose designed to encourage increased collaboration between students and team teaching among staff. The six learning communities each comprises a variety of spaces to support different modes of learning, including large collaborative spaces that can accommodate up to 50 students together with informal, social and creative learning areas.
The College campus incorporates a Specialty Building, specifically designed for teaching science, art and materials technology, and a central Administration and Multipurpose Community Hub, which houses administration offices, a dedicated resource centre, and a range of multipurpose areas which are shared with the adjacent Specialist School and the local community.
Developed in collaboration with Cardinia Shire Council, the Administration and Multipurpose Community Hub has been designed as the iconic main entry of the College and the education precinct as a whole, and provides a range of facilities designed to be used by the College and Specialist School during class hours, and opened for authorised community use on afternoons and weekends.
The design of Officer Secondary College utilises a bold, contemporary aesthetic, both inside and outside to shape a strong sense of identity and to celebrate the importance of education and schools in our community.