Marion Secondary College - Efficient Lighting Systems

Project Details

Lighting Partner: Lighting & Electrical Distributors

Client: VSBA

Electrical Engineer: Thomas Consulting Group

Architect: Minx Architecture

Photographer: Rhiannon Slatter

Established in 1957 Marion Secondary College is an independent Roman Catholic secondary school for girls, located in the outer Melbourne suburb of Sunshine West, Victoria, Australia. Through the VSBA schools upgrades program the school has undergone a number of upgrades, one of those it’s brand new Louise Cleary Learning Centre.

The design of places for educational purposes has come into sharper focus in the last decade. There is now much research linking well-designed learning spaces with better outcomes for students and staff. Adoption of good design and more collaborative working spaces supports creative thinking, developing deeper peer relationships and promoting STEM literacy increasing student academic performance, as well as student and staff experience.

Minx Architects were appointed as the lead architecture firm to create a transformative solution for the Louise Cleary Learning Centre. Providing an inviting space the double height collaborative Learning Space with tiered amphitheater style seating. In addition, it offered opportunity for intimate learning sessions, performances, or for students to gather for group activities. Connecting this large open space is a series of semi-open rooms for quiet reflection, study and learning providing an area of privacy while still offering connection to the wider student cohort.

To highlight the sheer volume of the collaborative space Thomas Consulting Group working with Lighting Electrical Distributors engaged ELS to design a custom Flute cylindrical pendant luminaire at 1400mm length and 1100mm to be suspended throughout the space a to provide a dynamic aesthetic. It was imperative that a perfectly homogenous 360degree illuminance be achieved while providing a robust product that could withstand the possible knocks and bumps that are all too familiar in a school environment.