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Victoria's education building design excellence was showcased by Wurun Senior Campus at the 2023 World Architecture Festival (WAF), staged in Singapore on 29 November to 1 December.
Designed by GHD Design with Grimshaw for the Victorian School Building Authority and built by BESIX Watpac, the school's 6-storey vertical design featured among 495 projects from across the globe, competing live at the festival.
"Wurun Senior Campus's participation at the World Architecture Festival highlights the Victorian School Building Authority's and the Victorian Department of Education's thought leadership in education facility design," said Martin Palmer, Director, GHD Design.
As the first building delivered as part of the Fitzroy Gasworks' regeneration in Melbourne's inner north, Wurun Senior Campus was one of 14 projects in contention in the WAF school category and one of four Australian school projects. A unique typology for Victorian school building design, the tertiary-education style campus was custom designed for senior cohorts from two schools.
The campus's recognition on the world architecture stage is very rewarding for the many collaborators involved in the planning, design and construction of Wurun Senior Campus and testament to the future focused vision of the partner schools, Collingwood College and Fitzroy High School."
While vertical schools are a relatively new but increasing solution to meet population growth in urban areas in Australia, they are more established internationally.
"In Australia we typically see mid-rise schools, between four and seven storeys, designed around a central atrium," said Palmer.
Wurun Senior Campus's stepped building form, wrapping around a busy street corner, explores a different vertical school model which gave rise to:
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