Loreto Mandeville Centre
 

Loreto Mandeville Centre

Client:
Loreto Mandeville Hall

Location:
Toorak, VIC

Completion:
2015

Size:
4,430m2

Contact:
John Sprunt

The new Mandeville Centre is an essential investment into the vitality of Loreto Mandeville Hall. It is a focal point for the school community, in function and location, acting as a link to all school operations. The building houses School Administration, Staff Centre, lecture theatre, Learning Resource Centre, Year 12 Centre and a basement level car park consistent with the 1999 City of Stonnington approved master plan.

The pinwheel concept is a diagrammatic response to the physical brief, animating and ordering the building program around a central atrium space, radiating to all physical and spiritual elements on and off site.

The atrium continues the existing courtyard language of the campus, further promoting a pedagogy in which learning environments are blended inside and out. Informal learning spaces are interwoven throughout the light-filled indoor environment, encouraging interaction between students and teaching staff. The Year 12 Centre has its place at the upper level – aspirational in terms of the hierarchy of a school and yet connected visually and physically.

The architecture draws on the library building typology in terms of promoting the quality of light and space (and form). Tectonically the building shrouds and screens its function, balancing the need for a new public face for the school, while respecting the significant heritage context.

The external steel fins orientate views from within the building while screening solar radiation from the east and west – in turn animating the façade without competing with the architecture of the mansion. The north façade provides a transparent and seamless connection with the landscape and mansion setting.

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“Most would agree that excellent teachers are the critical ingredient in achieving the best learning outcomes in a School.  What is important to remember is that teachers, as well as the students they teach, are inspired and energised by the spaces in which they operate, their daily working environment.”

DR SUSAN STEVENS, PRINCIPAL, LORETO MANDEVILLE HALL TOORAK

“The Library at Loreto Toorak is the epitome of style. An open, light, a ‘best’ and ‘next practice’ facility, one in which both teachers and students work at their most productive.”

DR SUSAN STEVENS, PRINCIPAL, LORETO MANDEVILLE HALL TOORAK

Client:
Loreto Mandeville Hall

Location:
Toorak, VIC

Completion:
2015

Size:
4,430m2

Contact:
John Sprunt

Awards

World Architecture News (WAN), International Education Award, 2017

Australian Institute of Architects, National Award – Educational Architecture, 2016

Australian Institute of Architects (VIC), Henry Bastow Award – Educational Architecture, 2016

Association for Learning Environments Australasia, New Construction – Major Facility, Commendation, 2016

Colorbond® Award for Steel Architecture, Commendation, 2016

Intergrain Timber Vision Awards, Commercial Interiors, Commendation, 2016