6/11/2018 Melbourne School of Design Case Study

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Melbourne School of Design – Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning

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Client: University of Melbourne
Architect: John Wardle Architects and
NADAAA in collaboration
Disciplines: Structural and Civil
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Melbourne School of Design Case Study
Melbourne School of Design
A world class building for educating the building
professionals of the future
Irwinconsult is pleased to announce that The Melbourne School of
Design was recently awarded best education structure in the world at
The Structural Awards 2015. It was one of just fourteen international
projects to be honoured by Institution of Structural Engineers in
London, where the annual awards ceremony celebrates outstanding
achievement in structural engineering.
Following an international design competition in 2009 Irwinconsult was
contracted to deliver structural and civil engineering services for the
project. Central to the brief was the concept that the building would
itself be a case study, from which students could learn about design,
structural engineering and construction.
Irwinconsult worked closely with John Wardle Architects & NADAAA to
deliver on the brief, through the expression of several key structural
elements within the building. Timber, steel and concrete are each
designed to demonstrate their structural and material qualities: a
unique structural timber roof over the central atrium, from which is
suspended a three storey ‘stalactite’ containing a series of studios, a
dramatic steel scissor staircase, alongside exposed in-situ concrete
beams and post-tensioned slabs that allow the building to perform
signi cant oor spans and cantilevers. The result is what the awards
jury called, “a built dictionary of exposed structure”.
Fourteen awards were announced on the night, recognising all aspects
of structural engineering, from bridges and stadia to innovative
housing and educational buildings. The winners were drawn from nine
nations across ve continents.
2/11
6/11/2018 “We are
Melbourne honoured
School toStudy
win
the Education or
of Design Case

Healthcare Award, and hope that the new

building inspires many generations of
students to believe in the possibilities of
structural engineering” says Barry Roben,
Lead Structural Engineer on Melbourne School
of Design.

Built Pedagogy

A Building Designed to Teach Students about Construction

and Engineering
The Melbourne School of Design was commissioned by the Faculty of
Architecture, Building and Planning via an international design
competition in 2009. The resulting building, designed by John Wardle
Architects and NADAA architects in collaboration, opened to acclaim in
August 2014.

A key element of the brief was “Built Pedagogy”, the concept that the
building itself would teach the students about design, structure and
construction. To this end, the team adopted a carefully considered
program of exposing the key elements of the structure, and then
introduced multiple materials and innovative structural schemes and
details. The end result is a building that not only educates student
architects and other construction professionals about construction, but
introduces an excitement about the design possibilities of structural
engineering.

Exposed Structure
The majority of the building structure comprises an exposed concrete
frame, with precast columns and core walls supporting in-situ post-
tensioned beams and reinforced concrete slabs. This generated the
most economic outcome for the utilitarian elements of the building,
forming the background against which the innovative elements were
contrasted.

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6/11/2018 To speed up construction,
Melbourne theCase
School of Design columns
Study were precast in two storey
heights, hence halving the required number of crane lifts. The cores
were precast and stitched using ‘NMB’ couplers.

Honesty in use of materials was a core principal throughout the design.

Materials were left without applied nishes where feasible, with only a
clear sealer to the concrete and timber, and steel left un nished even
exposing fabrication marks on the underside of the stair.

What Can Students Learn From the Structure of MSD?

Key Innovative Features of MSD

1. Structural Timber LVL Roof

The main hall is the hub of student activity and circulation in the
building. Providing a roof to this space that provides shade from the
Australian sun, while allowing su cient light to reach the oor below,
was taken as an opportunity for an innovative structural solution.
Rather than providing structure, ceiling, and shading as separate
elements, the three were combined into one structural element that
delivers all of these functions, and more.

The entire roof is constructed from Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)

comprising primary base beams and secondary co ers. The LVL timber
base beams span 22m across the atrium, with timber co ers spanning

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6/11/2018 6m Melbourne
between main
Schoolbeams. Beams
of Design Case and
Studyco ers are pro led to act as sun
shading, through parametric modelling by varying the depths and
spacing.

The 22m long box beams were fabricated by Timberbuilt in 63mm LVL
and were bolted to steel columns. The co ers were fabricated from
thinner LVL on a plywood frame, then lowered into place spanning 6m
between the box beams.

The use of LVL, in place of steel structure and aluminium sun-shading,

delivers a signi cant environmental bene t, reducing the building
embodied energy and sequestering carbon. The LVL was manufactured
in New Zealand from plantation grown radiata pine. The building
achieved 6 Star Greenstar certi cation and was the rst in Australia to
achieve all available innovation points.

We believe this is the largest LVL roof in Australia and the only timber
roof worldwide to have used a pro led structure in this manner to
provide sun shading.

2. Hanging Studio
A three storey timber-clad ‘stalactite’ is suspended from the main hall
roof. Framed in steel, with timber in ll walls and oors, the hanging
structure contains three teaching studios. For reasons of re-rating, the
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6/11/2018 studio structure
Melbourne is suspended
School fromStudy
of Design Case two steel trusses concealed within
two of the roof base beams. These trusses and the steel hangers are
protected with intumescent coating.

3. Exposed Steel Y-stair

Located at the West end of the atrium the Y-Stair provides the main
circulation through the teaching levels. The Y-Stair spans the width of
the atrium using trusses concealed in the balustrade. It was assembled
for test- t in the factory then disassembled and transported to site. The
completed Y-Stair is clad in acoustic material and timber with the so t
structure left exposed as a pedagogical device.

4. Exploring Exposed Concrete Frames

As stated above, the concrete frame is exposed throughout the project.
In the library undercroft, the plastic possibilities of concrete are
exploited in complex 3D forms of slab and ‘wishbone’ beams.

These beams support a landscaped berm curving over the library

undercroft below, while also providing restraint to the perimeter
retaining wall and allowing a continuous steel framed skylight bringing
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6/11/2018 lightMelbourne
to the ground oor
School of and undercroft.
Design Case Study The slab and beams were
poured in-situ on faceted and curved formwork.

5. 12m Steel Cantilever

Three levels of sta o ces cantilever 12m over the Northern courtyard,
forming a dramatic feature to the corner of the building. The cantilever
is framed in steel, with diagonal hangers on each side to transfer loads
back to the main building concrete frame.

The three oors each span 12m between the side frames, forming open
o ce space. The structure was modelled using nite element software
to prove a response factor lower than 8 to provide a quality
environment for the occupants.

Hanger tension loads were transferred across the building at level 5,

using post-tensioning tendons, to a core on the opposite side.

Once completed, the cantilever was clad with precast, followed by zinc
screen. The diagonal hangers can be perceived behind the façade,
http://www.irwinconsult.com.au/experiences/msd-mufabp/ giving the students clues as to the nature of the structure. 7/11
6/11/2018 Melbourne School of Design Case Study

6. Long Span Floors (18.5m)

The requirement for a 500 seat lecture theatre in the basement and
open lobby space at ground gave rise to a 18.5m span through the
centre of the building. Furthermore, there was a need to transfer the
columns to one side of the main hall to avoid creating a 23m span
below. This was resolved using deep post-tensioned beams with two
layers of tendons. The underside of these beams is exposed in the
lobby between ceiling panels. A section of glass oor gives a glimpse
into the main hall over.

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6/11/2018 The new
Melbourne Melbourne
School of Design Case School
of Design was
Study

handed over to the client four months early in

August 2014 and welcomed its rst
undergraduate students for the start of the
Australian academic year in March 2015.

We at Irwinconsult hope the new building

inspires many generations of students to
believe in the possibilities of structural
engineering.

Builder:
Brook eld Multiplex

Media coverage of Melbourne School of Design:

http://msd.unimelb.edu.au/new-building-media-coverage

Image and Drawing Credits in order of Appearance

Please note that images should not be used for any press purposes
without prior consent.

1. Photo: Melbourne School of Design, Courtesy of John Wardle

Architects; 2. Diagram: Cross Section, Irwinconsult; 3. Diagram:
Exploded view of the Main Hall, Courtesy of John Wardle Architects and
NADAAA in collaboration; 4. Photo: Diagram: Section through typical
box beam, Irwinconsult; 5. Photo: Co er, Irwinconsult; 6. Photo: Steel
framed hanging studio, Irwinconsult; 7. Photo: Y-Stair assembled for
test t, Courtesy of Aus Iron; 8. Photo: Y-Stair, Courtesy of John Wardle
Architects; 9. Photo: Exploring Exposed Concrete Form, Courtesy of
Glenn Hester; 10. Photo: 12m Steel Cantilever, Courtesy of John Wardle
Architects; 11. Photo: Exposed so t of long span oors, Courtesy of
Glenn Hester; 12. Diagram: Long Section, Courtesy of John Wardle
Architects and NADAAA in collaboration.

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6/11/2018 Melbourne School of Design Case Study

For more information, please contact Barry Roben on +61 (0)3 9622
9700.

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