CanopyMelbourne Girls Grammar
Boarding house bathrooms and Merton Hall, the staff office space
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WHAT WE DID
Commercial Interior Design
Melbourne Girls Grammar, a place where "challenge and choice create opportunities for every student to discover who she is meant to be". Working with the team at Melbourne Girls Grammar meant finding the balance between state of the art facilities and finding a layout to inspire the students and staff.
The project involved recreating two key areas within the school, boarding house bathrooms and Merton Hall; the office space for staff.
Merton Hall - a quiet space for innovative thinking.
The brief. To transform the original building (circa 1890) to a modern office environment for staff, with soft furnishings and greenery highlighting the serenity of the space.
Karl Simity, Director at Canopy, acknowledges this build as being particularly challenging due to it's heritage listing. From discovering plaster walls with four layers of plaster, added over time, to hidden doorways and passages which had been filled in and forgotten about, the original design was quite compartmentalised and carried all the architectural complexities you might expect from a building with a prestigious history. In addition, the project needed to be completed over the six week school break to ensure the staff would not be impacted.
The final design utilises the natural light source to create a bright, relaxed working environment, balancing an open plan, collaborative environment with quiet zones for private work. Subtle grey textures are used in the furnishings to complete the organic feel of the space.
Melbourne Girls Grammar staff have since described the result as a 'quiet oasis for both teachers and staff to have some time out'.
