MELBOURNE SCHOOL OF DESIGN

THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

A LIVING BUILDING THAT PRACTICE WHAT IT TEACHES

BY FATIMA TAHSEEN
 • Collaborative project between JHON WARDLE ARCHITECTS and NADAA
• Floor level = 6
• Project duration = 2009-2014
• Foot print = 3,330 sq. m
• Floor area 15,772 sq. m

The main focus was to rethink the entire challenge of architectural

education to give priority to four themes
• Academic environment
• Suspended studio
• Living building
• Build pedagogy
All themes cover the certain urgencies of time with the view of the
future
Excess and Exit Routes
 ATRIUM
At the center of the
design is a light-filled
atrium, which is
specifically designed to
encourage collaborative
activities. Surrounded
by flexible open studios,
the space is primed for
the free flowing
exchange of knowledge
between students,
teachers and researchers.
At each level, a steel mesh
balustrade allows for
optimum transparency and
views into the atrium.
Hovering above the floor of
the atrium is the faceted,
timber-clad Hansen
Yuncken studios.
 HANGING STUDIOS

• The continuous timber figure shows the power of hanging object drooping from the ceiling.

• The surface of hanging studio itself change dramatically as it distances from the ceiling,
becoming more battened form and less planer.

• The surface also changes from solid plywood to perforated panels with acoustic batting to
soften the noise in space.

• The angled surface of hanging studio also helps in distributing the sound rather than
reflecting it..
A meeting space sits under the
structure of the Suspended Studio in
the atrium with movable furniture
to accommodate individual and
group activities.
 THE COFFERED CEILING
• The coffered ceiling act as a fifth elevation, each coffer void angles toward
the south to allow enough daylight down into the building.
• There is perforated zinc slated cowls over every opening of coffer which protects
from glare of high sun.
STAIRS
• The ground floor acts as a horizontal continuation of the public realm, open to all as a
thoroughfare between other buildings, schools and spaces on the campus. The upper level atrium
was conceived as the heart of the school.

• The activities in those functionally specific interior spaces are highly visible to passing trade,
enticing us to buy what they are selling.

• On the upper levels around the atrium, wide balconies host a range of informal settings. On level 1
and 2, tables and chairs line the netted balconies outside the studios, providing valuable and much
utilized breakout spaces for students poised between classes.

• On the uppermost levels, the settings change to that of long banquettes with small tables, intended
for quiet work away from the bustle of the atrium floor. Interestingly, these are the least utilized of
all the functional settings, perhaps because of their remote location or because they only support
individual activities that can occur anywhere.
PLANS
 INTERIOR SPACES
The design of the building had to represent all
of the disciplines taught by the Melbourne
School of Design, including architecture,
landscape architecture, property and
construction, urban design and urban planning.

The Bank of New South Wales facade now

incorporated into the west edge of the building.
What used to be several floors of administration
offices behind the facade are now a void, a curious
strategic move that both relinquishes valuable
gross floor area and accentuates the heritage
Open work area. engagement of the new building.
The underside of the switch-back stair is left exposed so that
students can understand its steel structure.
Acoustic ceiling panels help to
dampen sound in the stone, glass,
and metal-lined foyer. A wood-
lined coffer from Timber built
gives a glimpse of the main
design studio above.
View out the rolling window wall at the base of Staff lounge.
the south facade.
Classroom

Around the entrances to the

Suspended Studio on the upper
levels are open work areas where
students can collaborate.
Concrete trusses support the roof of the library, which
extends under a lawn on the structure’s south side.
On the basement level,
acoustic wallcovering
helps control sound in the
area outside the main
auditorium, seen through
the blue glass. Concrete
and ductwork are left
exposed throughout the
structure.
Inside the Suspended Studio. Cafeteria
The Japanese garden near the northern
end of the concourse.

The Japanese Room in on the top floor in

the North West corner paired with the
Japanese Garden, the Japanese Room sits
in a privileged position overlooking the
concrete lawn. Features of the room
include the hand painted fusuma (sliding
doors), fabric wallpaper, shoji (papered
sliding screens), a panelled cedar ceiling
and chigaidana (split-level shelving).
Original thinking behind the theme of Built Pedagogy was not that the building would display how
it is assembled (that idea came later), but the way it is organised would be transparent;
demonstrating how the school wanted teaching and research to happen in an integrated way, the
brief was for teaching spaces to be done in a particular way, where they open on to other spaces.
You have a visual connection to different teaching modes: you can see the library, you can see the
workshop as you come in. You are aware of the IT areas and seminar teaching areas that open out
into the common areas."

The school strongly believes that the intimacy of smaller spaces encourages dialogue and the
problem with large groups is that there is a gradient effect where people at the edges are not
engaged.
 EXTERIOR SPACES

The building has four distinctly

different facades, each of which
responds to the unique
conditions it faces.

NORTH COURTYARD
The Bank of New South Wales Façade, 1817

West Façade of School is inspired by the Bank of New South Wales Facade

The concrete panels of the south
facade are interrupted by windows
into the lab and studio spaces.
The pre-weathered zinc panels
and the metal rain screens and
louvers that clad this portion of
the new building provides a
material contrast.
The entire building is designed as an education tool, with
its exposed structures and materials giving insight into
fabrication and construction techniques. The
environmental performance of the building is also part of
its teaching tools. It acts as a large scale laboratory,
monitoring energy consumption through sensors as well as
enabling the testing of emerging technologies.
THANK YOU
REFRENCES
https://www.archdaily.com/622708/melbourne-school-of-design-university-of-melbourne-
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https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/features/features-articles/melbourne-school-of-
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ebdjournal.com/blog/learning/msd
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http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab27#ixzz5zwDQb0Vc

https://www.thoughtco.com/architecture-timeline-historic-periods-styles-175996