Portable classrooms for the future: Winners announced

Entrants to the Future Proofing Schools Design Ideas Competition responded to a complex brief which outlined best international practices in education, prefabrication, sustainable design and landscape integration.

Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, Professor Tom Kvan, said it was a significant competition, the first of which he was aware included within a research program funded by the Australian Research Council.

“Professionals and tertiary students have addressed the importance of the built environment for maximising educational outcomes,” he said.

“We asked participants to re-imagine the way re-locatable teaching spaces should function. Instead of being tired, dreary spaces, we asked for designs to be practical and delightful.

 “This is the inaugural event of our annual Ideas Incubator run by our Melbourne School of Design.  Each year we will explore a significant social issue and encourage debate through design.”

The winners of the competition, according to category, were:

Professional Competition: First prize, Architectus Pty Ltd, Melbourne; Tertiary Student Competition: First prize,  Anastasia Globa of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; University of Melbourne Student Competition: First prize, Ayrine Kwan, Melbourne School of Design; High School Competition: Dinel Meyepa, Jack Huynh, Olivia Baenziger, James McMillan and Minh Nguyen.

The winning Professional Competition design idea from firm Architectus proposed a computer ‘app’ with a suite of modules to be selected and organised by each client group to suit their needs and location. Tertiary student Anastasia Globa developed a scheme to fully exploit the potential of computer-aided prefabrication techniques.

Entries from Melbourne students explored a variety of design approaches, from individual origami-like folding structures to urban scale ‘learning bridges’.

The Awards Ceremony and exhibition launch for the Future Proofing Schools competition will be held on 12 December,  at 6:00pm in the Wunderlich Gallery. Further information, www.msdincubator.com/gallery.