Christian College Geelong Innovation Centre
An innovative cluster of specialist learning spaces that inspire creativity, connection and growth.
The Innovation Centre at Christian College Geelong’s Surf Coast Campus is the outcome of a five-year trusted relationship and a genuinely complex design challenge. This new learning precinct is organised as a cluster of three distinct buildings, creating purpose-built spaces for diverse specialist programs, all within a tightly managed budget. It’s a place of possibility and collaboration, providing an environment where staff and students are excited to spend their time.
Year
April 2025
Services
Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Design
Client
Christian College Geelong
Location
Surf Coast Campus, Jan Juc, VIC
What Was Needed
Christian College Geelong puts its students first. Their ethos centres on pastoral care and close relationships between teachers and students, shaping their approach to buildings, with a focus on adaptability and longevity rather than extravagance. We helped them translate their developing programs and timetabling into an Innovation Centre brief that gave them confidence their ambitions could be met.
The Challenge
Located on the College’s newest campus, the core challenge was to accommodate a broad range of specialist programs across three buildings, on a hillside site with a 30-metre fall, within a strict budget, whilst navigating updated bushfire regulations and aligning the program with town planning approvals. These weren't obstacles we worked around; they were conditions we designed within.
How We Worked Together
We used detailed 3D modelling to help the school's leadership see that co-locating programs like woodworking and textiles was worth the compromise. We championed a hybrid construction approach, introducing modular buildings for the classrooms and food technology spaces, combined with a bespoke building for the specialist programs that required greater volume, floor area and height.
The Value Created
The Innovation Centre is a connected precinct of specialist spaces where students can choose from a breadth of programs, see across disciplines, and collaborate in ways that simply weren't possible before. The central, covered outdoor breakout space has already become a place for impromptu drama rehearsals, lunchtime gatherings, and activities nobody planned for. It's a facility that has already exceeded expectations, and we're confident it will keep doing so.
