Australian Technical College
St Joseph’s College, Ferntree Gully, Melbourne
“The Australian Technical College building is remarkable for its economy and way it mixes industrial and academic spaces on a limited budget whilst still being a dramatic presence on the site. This was a complex build given the fact that it involved two levels of government bureaucracy, two schools and a council of a third institution as the client, with the Archdiocese of Melbourne in the background. Michael managed the relationships very well and was able to achieve a building designed and fit for purpose and on budget.” Vincent Feeney Principal
This is an Australian Technical College (ATC) for Eastern Melbourne. As this facility provides courses in the building trades we have used a surveyors staff as a motif to identify the facility amidst the surrounding school buildings, this measuring device/frieze travels around the building to enliven, delineate and direct both the external and internal spaces. Given the opposing needs of the facility to be a large open space and the school’s need for a building that appeared not to be a “large dumb shed” this ruler device works hard to decrease volume and increase drama.