Eastern Marr
Victoria
The Year Nine Learning Centre at Emmanuel College, Warrnambool, is a single, folding, shed-like volume that negotiates a sloping, constrained site to accommodate an innovative pedagogical model for a crucial stage of development. Clad entirely in Colorbond Manor Red, the architecture evokes the historical practice of painting corrugated roofs with iron red oxide on Victoria's weather-beaten south-west coast, as well as St Anne's Convent, the College's foundation site, and the College's spirituality of the Mercy tradition. The act of folding creates natural thresholds between the three teaching domains, enclosing a sheltered gathering space with framed views, along a 'bridging landscape' to the College's historical centre. From the entry tiered seating descends to a sports court embedded in the slope, within the continuous volume. A robust, didactic interior in Manor Red and timber creates an architecture of care and calm that supports independence and belonging in this transitional stage of learning.
The 9@RICE program is designed to engage students at a critical stage when traditional teaching may not suffice. Baldasso Cortese took time to genuinely understand the program and guided the College through a series of key stakeholder workshops. This planning phase was critical, generating discussion beyond our initial thinking and shaping both the brief and the outcome.
The design carefully responds to the sloped site and the educational vision, creating a facility that supports flexible teaching, independence, and community, realising the year nine vision of “crossing the bridge”. Attention to detail and execution has exceeded our expectations.
Tim Pyke, Design Architect
Joel Harbour, Project Architect
Shirley Cooper, Interior Designer
Stephen Parkin, Project Architect
Jiun Chin, Project Architect
Fraser Design Collaborative, Landscape Consultant
GSE Group, Structural Engineer
BRT Consulting Engineers, Services Consultant
BSA Building Surveyors, Building Surveyor
Macleod + Aitkin, Quantity Surveyor
MPAA Studio (formally Myers Planning Group), Town Planner
GSE Group, Civil Consultant
DDEG, Fire Engineering
SLR Consulting Australia Pty Ltd, Acoustic Consultant
Compass Heritage Services, Heritage Consultant