‘Man and Architecture’ Exhibition,
´Mensch&Architektur´ journal in association with the Anthroposophical Society in Germany,
Berlin Philharmonie, 27 - 30 Jun 2013

Institute of Koorie Education, Deakin University

Jury Citation:

‘The Institute of Koorie Education is an outstanding project that reworks a previously grim semi industrial building on the Waurn Ponds campus and adds new facilities that create an inspiring suite of spaces that serve Victoria's indigenous community.

The roof of the previous building has been raised to cleverly integrate with the new addition so that the new institute spans three floor levels, exploiting the slope of the site.

The architect has created a beautiful network of circulation and public spaces that knit together a wide diversity of teaching areas, academic offices, studios and a major performance space.

The generosity of this circulation network, which is naturally lit from above, creates a feeling of openness and collaboration.

Cultural traditions of greeting and ceremony are respected by creating both outdoor and indoor spaces that connect in a rational and poetic way.

The building is located at an important entry point to the campus and creates a welcoming, multifaceted and open education centre of a scale that humanises an otherwise monumental University campus environment.’

Can a building change lives? Professor Wendy Brabham, director of the Deakin Institute of Koorie Education, is hopeful that the Institute’s new building will make a real impact on the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
“I believe educational institutions within their architectural designs usually don’t consider the spaces required for the Aboriginal learner. Whereas, because we’ve been a part of designing this space with the architect, we bring to the table all the issues that underpin an Aboriginal student learner at the university level,” she says.
Designed by Greg Burgess, the Institute has been planned around an educational model that ensures students don’t have to leave their communities and families for long periods.
“Greg engaged, and understood the importance of the community-based model and that the space was important for the learner,” Brabham says.
Workshops with students, staff and Koorie elders determined that they wanted it to be like a home away from home. Classrooms, tutorial rooms and staff offices are distributed throughout the building, spaces informed by the teaching styles, administrative practices and needs of the learner.
“People have to walk between things, rather than being stuck in the same spot all day, so that walking and talking is a part of the educational philosophy,” he says.
“A light filled void connects the lower and upper level ... the idea is it’s a highly sociable building and highly interconnected.”
A tree trunk props up a huge steel beam from the original structure; the bark remains but the tree’s branches have been cut off. “The tree is like a reminder of traditional culture being a support for contemporary life,” says Burgess.
The Institute of Koorie Education has been shortlisted in the public architecture alterations and additions category.

Jury Comments

The building provides a contemporary architectural response to the existing streetscape with references to the use of red brick and the traditional veranda. The building successfully restores the inner street on campus and provides a marker or gateway into the school. Along with the Great Memorial Hall, it frames the internal road and acts as a gateway celebrating the sense of arrival. The contemporary interpretation of the veranda around the building works successfully with the provision of landscaping in front to anchor building in ground. The building presents a creative response to the site and setting that reflects its use as a Performing Art Facility, through a bold façade that is certain to attract attention.
 

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