The new sports hall at Mazenod College stands out as a striking centrepiece on the school campus, with the architect deciding to push the envelope on the design aspect. The use of COLORBOND Metallic steel from BlueScope Steel as wall cladding has added a dynamic effect to the entire structure.
The new sports hall is designed to house multiple specialised sport facilities and can accommodate the entire student and staff population.
Observing that sports halls can be fairly static buildings, Latitude Architects principal Tony Cotter said they used structural steel to crank columns and create dramatic cantilevers over the entry to imbue the building with a sense of movement. The building appears to be leaning over to one side, and the coloured bands of COLORBOND Metallic steel in the colours Axis, Facade and Skybridge that run around the walls add to the dynamic effect.
The sports centre was erected quickly and easily, thanks to the use of prefabricated Ecotek insulated panels from Ritek Building Solutions on the roof. The roof panels incorporate LYSAGHT TRIMDEK profile on the outer skin and LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB profile on the underside, both made from COLORBOND steel in the colour Surfmist.
The exterior wall panels are made from COLORBOND Metallic steel in Stramit Longspan profile, in a combination of three different colours: Axis, Facade and Skybridge. The interior wall is also made from COLORBOND steel in Stramit Longspan profile in the colour Surfmist, creating a seamless finish.
On his choice of COLORBOND Metallic steel colours, Mr Cotter said COLORBOND Metallic steel allowed them to create a language on the site using the school's colours. Additionally, BlueScope's COLORBOND Metallic steel's colour appears to change throughout the day under different light conditions, with the dynamic effect more pronounced as the sun passes over it.
According to Ritek Building Solutions' Victorian Account Manager Michael Poort, architects and builders favour Ecotek insulated panels for their flexibility and ease-of-use. Having done several projects with Mr Cotter in the past, they know he likes the use of colour and to play with angles. Though they thought the use of COLORBOND Metallic steel in this project was somewhat unusual, they understood the choice was driven by the architect who was keen to produce a unique building.
Mr Poort adds that Ecotek panels have considerable spanning capacity that reduces the need for structural steel. He explains that there are no purlins at all in this project, with the panels standing between structural steel members. For this project, Ecotek insulated panels were brought to the site prefabricated to size and craned into place at an amazingly fast rate. About 400 square metres of product were installed per day.
The use of Ecotek panels in this project allowed them to meet the Building Code of Australia's Section J (energy efficiency) requirements in an inexpensive way. Since the panels were cost-effective, they were able to improve the building's performance with additional internal acoustic linings and still deliver the project under budget. The excellent acoustics in the hall encouraged the school to conduct Mass in the new sports hall.
