Sustainable Architecture Win for Woodleigh

Woodleigh’s Futures Studio added another string to its bow in June, becoming a 2025 Victorian Architecture Awards Winner.

The win was a huge result for Woodleigh, McIldowie Partners Architects and architect Frank Burridge, designer Joost Bakker and our builders, SEBS (South East Building Services), as the Futures Studio took home the Architecture Award in the Sustainability category at this year’s Victorian Architecture Awards. Also commended in the Educational Architecture category, the award jury commented that the “project represents the very best of sustainable practice in educational design. Situated on regenerated farmland, the building embodies the pedagogical goals of the school, providing an opportunity for students to gain real-world learning through the design.”

They didn’t stop there... “Judges were also impressed by the depth of sustainable thinking and how this is woven into the incredible learning environment created. The project goes above and beyond conventional sustainable considerations, sequestering carbon through hemp joinery, straw Durra panels and the 800sqm green roof, which also enriches biodiversity, providing a home for endangered butterflies. Materials are adapted and reused, such as timber from St Kilda pier and waste textiles used in acoustic panels. Waste was significantly minimised in both design and construction; 95% was diverted from landfill. Careful consideration was also given to the impact materials have on the health and wellbeing of end users and contractors.

Aligned values across client, design team and contractor has led to a highly successful outcome, one which the team should be very proud of.”

So, it’s fair to say they liked it!

The project also received a 2025 Victorian AIA Architecture Commendation in the Education Architecture area.

The potential for more awards is there, too, as the building is currently shortlisted for both the 2025 Architecture Au Award for Social Impact and the 2025 InDesign Learning Space Award.

For the Uninitiated

The Futures Studio consists of three pavilions linked by courtyards and sheltered outdoor learning areas and sits beside the Brian Henderson Reserve, to the rear of the campus. 

The largest pavilion houses five learning spaces and two quiet learning pods, offering a range of flexible learning settings for teachers to personalise their classroom and offer students agency in their learning.  

Classrooms are fitted with acoustic ceiling panels made from reclaimed fabric and feature large sliding doors, allowing collaborative project-based work to occur alongside subject-based learning.

Large sliding hemp whiteboards provide further learning and display opportunities while reframing the interior spaces as a linear gallery for the exhibition of student work. 

The second pavilion houses staff areas, a meeting room and staff amenities, while the third pavilion serves as the Year 10 Homestead space. Housing a communal kitchen and shared social space for students and staff, building a sense of belonging and community.

A key material choice in the building was Durra Panel, which was used instead of traditional plaster walls and ceilings to align with our sustainable and regenerative education values.

To achieve our vision of the most sustainable build possible, the project adhered to the Living Building Institute’s Red List, meaning that materials containing harmful chemicals were consciously avoided. Durra Panel, made from compressed wheat straw, recycled cork spray, low-VOC paint, ceilings embedded with biochar to filter pollutants from the air and a living green roof, complete with a drought-resilient wicking bed, combined to produce a near zero-waste construction system. The Durra Panel off-cuts were mulched and spread across the school’s gardens!

The green roof, with its thermal mass and soil weight, significantly reduces the need for mass concrete footings, reducing the use of carbon-intensive concrete while speeding the build time.  

Congratulations to the entire team, from design, through construction and delivery.