Victoria
Xavier Colleges Kostka Building was identified as a key project in MGS Architects 2020 Master Plan, enabling the relocation of the Colleges year 7 and 8 student cohort from its Brighton and Studley Park campuses to its Senior Campus in Kew.
Kostka accommodates the specific pedagogical and wellbeing requirements of younger students as they transition to high school, while sparking curiosity and creativity in a welcoming, homelike environment. The building is a nurturing teacher, layered with meaning, learning opportunities and spaces that support connection and belonging.
Programmatic expression drives the architecture. Bluebrown brick forms erupt from the terrain, fragmented to create an inhabitable façade. These solid shapes shift to offer connection and retreat, opening to views and closing to create moments of refuge, their mass amplified by high performance glazing that showcases activities within the building to adjacent spaces and connects students with the historic Chapel, ovals, and city beyond.
Award for Educational Architecture
Xavier College Kostka Building demonstrates consistent excellence across all facets of the assessment criteria. The sensitive integration of cherished elements from the original Kostka Building preserves the school’s historical legacy while allowing a new chapter to commence. It evokes a sense of familiarity to its alumni while building on its legacy in this new location.
The real star of the show is the exposed CLT structure, which features throughout the internal spaces. Not only does it add to the building’s environmental credentials, but it also serves as the backbone of a rich palette of robust natural materials that balance lightness and darkness, creating a civic feel to the internal circulation paths.
A more colourful, playful palette comes to the fore in the quieter study areas, providing wayfinding cues to guide young students through the various learning environments and to their classrooms. It is a complex and sophisticated combination that defies conventional expectations for a building of this type.
Externally, the architecture exudes robustness while maintaining the visual connection between the internal day-to-day activities within, and the thoughtfully designed external landscape spaces that complement and ground the building in its sloping site.
The project strikes a delightful balance between tradition and innovation, familiarity and forward-thinking design.
Elliet Spring, Director (Project)
Catherine Ranger, Director (Design)
Rob McGauran, Director (Urban Design)
Joshua Wheeler, Director (Construction)
Alistair Nancarrow, Project Architect
John Bezemer, Project Leader
Marta Fisher, Lead Interior Designer
Jake Hartman, Graduate of Architecture
Pulina Ponnamperuma, Architect
Eu-Jin Lo, Interior Designer
Miray Bas, Architect
Tahj Rosmarin, Urban Designer and Architect
Audrey Lopez, Urban Designer
Karen Macmull, Architect
Monique Banks, Architect
Natalie Chamings, Graduate of Architecture
Case Meallin, Project Manager
Openwork, Landscape Consultant
WSP, Structural, Civil and Fire Services Consultant
Introba, Services and ESD Consultant
Lovell Chen, Heritage Consultant
Resonate, Acoustic Consultant
du Chateau Chun, Consulting Building Surveyor and Access
Phlip Chun, Relevant Building Surveyor
New Learning Environments, Pedagogy and Space Consultant
Inhabit, Facade Engineer
Traffix, Traffic Consultant
Civica, Arborist
WT Partnership, Cost Consultant
STRI Australia, Sports Turf Consultant
Leigh Design, Waste
Diadem, Wayfinding Design
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
