Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
“The combination of active and passive environmental strategies define the building’s expression and operations whilst assisting Monash University intelligently and lead its 2030 Net-Zero Initiative with unique purpose defined architecture,” states Andrew Cortese, partner, Grimshaw.
Led by Andrew Cortese and his design team at Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University and landscape architects ASPECT Studios, the Woodside Building for Technology and Design is a transformational, transdisciplinary facility for the Faculties of Engineering and Information Technology at Monash University.
The 215,000-square-foot, daylight-filled, Passive House–a certified building pushes the envelope in terms of aesthetics and sale, completely reimagining what the ultra-low-energy genre could look like.
More than 50,000-square-foot roof surface is covered in a photovoltaic array—the solar energy it converts to electricity contributes to the building’s energy budget.
Double-glazed window units with an argon fill compose 50 percent of the facade overall (and are the same ones used in skylights).
Spandrel panels on the roof and in the curtain walls range in size from 6 to 8 inches thick and feature standard mineral wool insulation sandwiched between steel sheets.
The design team considered student comfort, giving as much access as possible to daylight throughout the structure’s deep floor plates, through the expansive skylights—beneath which are double-height study areas and research clusters suspended by large red-painted trusses that have come to define the interiors and one full-height atrium that traverses the short side of the building toward its center.
Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University has created a future-focused, sustainable, education machine that never forgets human scale or human experience.
The building intends for Monash to impart a global impact in academic and learning excellence in concurrence with environmental leadership and industry partnerships into campus, students, and academic staff and a deep commitment to social and sustainable outcomes.
It initiates new models of learning alongside academic research and administration and establishes precedent-setting environmental innovation.
It will simultaneously initiate a pilot of international leadership in learning environments.
With immersive and interactive technology throughout, Woodside combines large-format, expert-led adaptable teaching spaces with advanced manufacturing laboratories for students and researchers to embrace innovation, design and cutting-edge technology for the development of new solutions in sustainable energy.
The building houses more than 30 learning spaces, including an interactive tiered collaborative space accommodating 360 people.
Project: The Woodside Building for Technology and Design
Architects: Grimshaw
Design Architect: Andrew Cortese
Project Architect: Michael Janeke
Design Team: Cristian Castillo, Project Team Leader
Sarah Gilder, Carolin Funcke, Benjamin Donohoo, Damon Van Horne, Ivana Pejic, Tomasz Rejowksi, Gaspard Michaud, Benjamin Chew, Gilbert Yeong, Robert Held, Alberto Sangiorgio, Nicole Allen, Pamela McGirr, Mark Marin, Lee Sawyer, Alan Tier, Ana Subotic, Takanori Hanai, Wayne Henkel, Carolina Rodriguez Dias, Yawen, Other, Michaela Coe, Bergstrom, Michael Edmonds, Rose Fan, Susana Loureiro, Tom Donald, Benjamin Baertschi, Patricia Salgado, and Amalia Mayor
Landscape Architects: ASPECT Studios
General Contractor: Lendlease
Client: Monash University
Photographers: Rory Gardiner, Michael Kai and Peter Bennetts
