Mt Maria College, Middle Years Building

The Middle Years Building also known as the St Benedict Building, is marks the beginning of the construction of the Middle Years Precinct at Mt Maria College. This precinct is part of the College master plan which has been undertaken as staged development since 2009. This new building was required due to the College student enrolment growth, including Year 7 coming into Secondary school.

The St Benedict Building is situated close to the existing site western boundary to allow construction of future Middle Years classroom buildings between it and the existing heritage listed Rose Pelletier Building. It is nestled down the embankment to allow uninterrupted views from and to the Rose Pelletier building maintaining one of the significant heritage aspects. The building curves around to embrace the courtyard and middle years play space. The bridge access links into the central circulation spine through the campus, McKillop Way.

Similar to previous stages, the Middle Years Building embodies one of the Marist values, in this case “Live Simply” – St Benedict of Nursia’s was renowned for adopting a simple lifestyle. The design approach for the Middle Years Building is similar to the Marcellin Champagnat Senior Year Building with a subtle softening and simplifying of the forms.

The design philosophy was to design the building structure and shell and then approach the classroom fitouts like a tenancy. Services were designed to be accessible and easily reconfigured to suit future requirements. The building was recognised as a learning tool and the fitout of the science and design technology spaces have the structure, materials and services visible to allow the occupants to understand how the building works and give an industrial aesthetic.

Materials were selected for durability and to link with the other buildings on the campus. The brickwork ties in with the adjacent heritage building whilst the metal sheeting and CFC cladding ties in with the new buildings. Lockers add playful colour and timber features add warmth.