Project Description

Originally designed to deliver a 1960s curriculum, Mt Maria College's manual arts facility had long outgrown its purpose. Ageing infrastructure, poor natural light, and a rigid spatial arrangement left the building ill-equipped to meet the demands of contemporary trade and technology education.

The renewal project reimagined the facility from the roof down. A remodelled roofline introduces clerestory windows throughout, flooding previously dim workspaces with natural light and creating a more engaging learning environment. Internally, acoustic perforated custom Orb cladding brings both character and functionality, managing noise levels across busy, active spaces.

A new covered outdoor workshop extension significantly expands the school's operational footprint, enabling a broadened subject offering that now encompasses welding, construction, carpentry, block laying, and design. These disciplines sit alongside one another in a layout thoughtfully configured to improve internal connectivity, staff supervision, and day-to-day flexibility.

The result is a facility that not only honours the hands-on tradition of trade education but elevates it — providing students with a modern, safe, and inspiring environment in which to develop real-world skills for the decades ahead.