2018 National Architecture Awards: National Award for Interior Architecture

Monash University Learning and Teaching Building by John Wardle Architects Interior Architecture: National Award Australian Institute of Architects

Jury citation

Monash University’s Learning and Teaching Building is a fine addition to the Clayton campus. While the building plays a physical role as a gateway to the university, its less tangible but perhaps more important role is as a gateway for new students to the campus experience. The low-rise building is a successful student hub that encourages teaching, learning and study in various pre-class, in-class and post-class settings. Its design concept is of an interior landscape that recalls the places found in a city or neighbourhood. The interior architecture uses light, views and materials and finishes usually associated with a building exterior, combining these with spaces and volumes that recall city structures (brick forms that enclose lecture theatres) or topography (staircase bleachers and platforms that tumble through circulation spaces). Colour is used to signify “fast routes” through the interior topography and this combines with prominent indicators that suggest bridges, streets and small buildings, providing the type of visual wayfinding devices that can be found in a city. This building offers a delightfully considered and appropriately scaled experience for new students.

For more coverage, read Rachel Hurst’s project review from Architecture Australia Sept/Oct 2018.

Credits

Project
Monash University Learning and Teaching Building
Architect
Wardle
Melbourne, Vic, Australia
Project Team
John Wardle, Stefan Mee, Andrew Wong (design architects), Meaghan Dwyer (project director), Yee Jien (project architect), Sam Clegg, Alexandra Morrison, Barry Hayes, Bill Kalavriotis, Goran Sekuleski, James Loder, Kanyanta Chipanta, Meron Tierney, Will Chan, Adam Kolsrud, Alan Ting, Alex Peck, Angus McNichol, Luca Vezzosi, David Ha, Robert Kolak (architects), Amanda Moore (senior interior designer), Elisabetta Zanella, Manuel Canestrini, Sharon Crabb, Jeff Arnold, Kylie Barker, Chris Free (interior designers), Stuart Mann, James Stephenson (architectural draftspeople), Kristina Levenko, Laura Culianez, Maya Borjesson, Ellen Chen, Adrian Bonaventura, Charlotte Churchill, Robert Hillman, Aimee MacKenzie, Shaun McCallum (graduates of architecture), Rhys Hall (BIM manager), Harry Bardoel, Emilia Firus, Aleksandra Jovanovic, Olivia Potter, Fiona Robertson, Lorenzo Vicari, Kate Crosby (students of architecture)
Consultants
Accessibility consultant du Chateau Chun
Acoustic consultant Marshall Day
Builder Multiplex
Building engineer and sustainability (ESD) consultant NYD
Building surveyor PLP
Geotechnical engineer Douglas Partners
Landscape architects Aspect Studio, McGregor Coxall, Realm Studios
Pedestrian modelling Arup
Signage and wayfinding Buro North
Structural and civil engineer IrwinConsult
Traffic consultant GTA Consulting
Wind consultant Mel Consulting
Site Details
Location Melbourne,  Vic,  Australia
Site type Urban
Project Details
Status Built
Category Education
Type Universities / colleges
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