Signature building for Caulfield Grammar
Designed by the Buchan Group, the new $5 million multi-purpose gymnasium complex Buxton Construction is building at Caulfield Grammar's Wheelers Hill campus fulfills the school's brief for a distinctive, eye-catching structure.
“As the new complex will be the first part of the campus to come into a visitor's view, the school was keen to have a signature building to the entrance driveway,” The Buchan Group director Chris Ball said.
The split-level contemporary structure comprises netball, basketball, volleyball and badminton courts to international standards, spectator gallery, teaching spaces, community facility, staff offices and reception for the junior school.
The steeply sloping site required extensive excavation prior to pouring the concrete raft slab which was employed because of its suitability for the area's highly reactive clay soil. Cladding to the lower levels of the steel-framed building is a combination of timber, rendered and exposed blockwork, and pre-coloured metal panels. Upper levels feature glazing, painted blockwork and environmentally-friendly Durra panels.
Lighting is electronically controlled while the computerised air-conditioning system and automatic windows are activated by the ambient temperature to provide maximum energy efficiency. Water harvested from the roof is used for toilet flushing and irrigation.