Grimshaw and Monash University's Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building
Grimshaw and Monash University's Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building
The Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building is an interdisciplinary facility for the School of Engineering and Information Technology on the Clayton Campus of Monash University. Sustainable development is inseparable from corporate operations.
Passive design strategies shape the architecture to demonstrate a performance-based approach and provide unique learning opportunities. The building is currently the largest passive house certification project in the southern hemisphere, and it paves the way for Monash to achieve net zero carbon by 2030. Heat recovery is the key principle of Passive Houses to balance indoor temperature and reduce energy consumption. The building is 100% electrically driven, providing 60% of its own electricity through solar panels. Collect water and reuse it as grey water on site.
The plan is organized within a clear steel framework. A system with different spans (6, 12 and 24 meters), this "parts kit" approach achieves material efficiency. Modularity also ensures continuous spatial adaptability. Flexible planning helps meet the functional requirements of laboratory, teaching, and team-based work spaces, while providing interconnected circulation voids and informal breakthrough spaces to collect different parts of the building. A tiered open theater combines all levels of teaching under a four-story glass atrium. Surrounded by large pieces of glass, you can see the native iron eucalyptus trees, turning this teaching space into a "big room" of the school.
The scale and complexity of the volume require fire protection, and the steel frame is celebrated with the iconic rose red "San Francisco Bay" intumescent paint. The apparent simplicity of the structure and services is evidence of a careful design process. Monash Woodside Building for Technology is the result of successful cooperation between architects, clients, engineers, academics and industry, and is the epitome of immersive learning. The facility was called a "living laboratory" by Monash and Woodside Energy (who contributed US$16.5 million to the construction of the building), a testament to the institution’s firm commitment to social and sustainable results, and it has established an educational facility in Australia New benchmark.
Architect: Grimshaw in cooperation with Monash University; Project team: Andrew Cortese, Michael Janeke, Cristian Castillo, Sarah Gilder, Carolin Funcke, Benjamin Donohoo, Damon Van Horne, Ivana Pejic, Tomasz Rejowski, Gaspard Michaud, Benjamin Chew, Gilbert Yeong, Robert Held, Alberto Sangiorgio, Nicole Allen, Pamela McGill, Mark Marin, Lee Sawyer, Allen Thiel, Anna Subotic, Hanai Takanori, Wayne Hankel, Carolina Rodriguez Diaz, Yavin, Michael Ko, Meredith Bergstrom, Michael Edmunds, Rose Van, Susanna Loreiro, Tom Donald, Benjamin Balch, Patricia Salgado, Amalia Mayor Carolina Vodarcik; Builder: Lendlease; Structure, ESD, Civil Engineering, Fire Fighting, Machinery, Electrical, Lighting, Hydraulic and Acoustic Engineer: Aurecon; Landscape Consultant: Aspect Studios; Certification Agency: BSGM; Curtain Wall Consultant: Minesco; Project Manager: Root Projects; Other Consultants: Six Ideas, Bollinger and Grohman; Photographers Rory Gardner, Michael Kai
The Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building, which Grimshaw collaborated with Monash University, is located in Clayton, Victoria, on the land of the Culling Nation.
Online release: November 4, 2021 Text: 2021 National Architecture Awards Jury Photos: Michael Kai, Rory Gardiner
An off-grid cabin and a cellar door in Mudgee are among the projects celebrated in the 2021 New South Wales Country Division Architecture Awards.
"These awards are a testament to the creativity, imagination, richness and diversity of our industry," said Alice Hampson, chair of the jury
Grimshaw and Monash University's Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building
Grimshaw and Monash University's Monash Woodside Technology and Design Building
The architectural media recognizes the traditional guardians of Australian land and waters.
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