Connected Learning – Clyde and Greenvale Secondary Colleges by McBride Charles Ryan and Kerstin Thompson Architects

In a high-growth residential corridor north of Melbourne’s CBD, McBride Charles Ryan in collaboration with Kerstin Thompson Architects have masterplanned a new education precinct. The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) engaged the architecture firms to deliver Clyde and Greenvale Secondary Colleges, two progressive and connected learning communities with individual characters.

The Victorian Government has made the commitment to have built 100 new schools throughout the state by 2026, part of an infrastructure boom intended to make Victoria the ‘education state’. With this level of progress comes the requirement of replicable construction techniques and, in this instance, the collaborative efforts of McBride Charles Ryan and Kerstin Thompson Architects have made way for a standardised learning village and a unique building footprint that fans out from the central heart of the campus.

The collaborative efforts of McBride Charles Ryan and Kerstin Thompson Architects have made way for a standardised learning village and a unique building footprint that fans out from the central heart of the campus.

The entire precinct and project scope encompassed the masterplan, design and construction of the Clyde Secondary College, Greenvale Secondary College and the Clyde Creek Primary School. On arrival, a visitor is immediately aware that three individual communities comprise the whole. Each secondary college and the primary school are distinguished by their material finishes and the vibrant use of colour, though they remain in conversation through the striking geometry of architecture that sits above its interwoven public spaces.

The schools are similar in scale to the surrounding residential areas yet were designed to provide relief from the repetitive architecture of urban sprawl. The architects worked alongside the structural engineers, designing the colleges’ distinctive primary roof structure of large timber trusses. In contrast, each classroom adopts a pared-back material palette, fostering a calm and focused learning environment.

Each secondary college and the primary school are distinguished by their material finishes and the vibrant use of colour, though they remain in conversation through the striking geometry of architecture that sits above its interwoven public spaces.

Clyde and Greenvale Secondary Colleges are defined by unique and flexible teaching spaces. Walls between classrooms are operable, dividing the floor plan into separate, more secluded zones, or removed for larger group lectures and sessions. Outside the classroom, open spaces foster a multi-disciplinary approach to learning. Collaborative pods, meeting rooms, private study areas and green spaces combine to foster deeper learning engagement.

Alongside the colleges’ intended purpose of education, McBride Charles Ryan and Kerstin Thompson Architects have established a community hub where both young and old congregate. Each campus embraces this community aspect, providing access for neighbourhood sports and recreation beyond school hours through its physical education, performing arts and food technology facilities.

Clyde and Greenvale Secondary Colleges are defined by unique and flexible teaching spaces.

McBride Charles Ryan and Kerstin Thompson Architects’s sensitivity to how design, configuration and materiality can influence learning has resulted in a composition of sophistication. The intentional qualities of each community facilitate alternative modes of education, fostering the wellbeing of future generations inside the classroom and out.