James Mitchell Centre

Awarded with a Special Commendation in the 2006 United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Awards, Green Building Award, Westbourne Grammar School's James Mitchell Centre, by NOWarchitecture, breaks new ground in innovative Environmentally Sustainable Design practices. The James Mitchell Centre was designed for maximum flexibility and efficiency. Large multipurpose spaces were used to provide circulation throughout the building while the specialist facilities were designed to interact in various ways to allow for a multitude of functions to operate within the building. Using the primary structure as aesthetic elements, and maximising the areas of exposed precast concrete walls and concrete ceiling soffits, the need for secondary finishes was significantly reduced. This design focus not only increased the performance of the high level of thermal mass, it reduced the embodied energy and life cycle costs of the building. Stormwater is harvested from the roof of the building and stored below ground in a 20,000 Litre bladder tank. Overflow from the bladder tank and water from the adjacent paving is stored within a stormwater retention lake. The lake, and associated wetlands, provides a stunning backdrop to the Theatre while playing an important role in passively cooling the hot north winds as they approach the building. This educational facility actively promotes the benefits of Green Building strategies to our next generation. Westbourne Grammar School’s James Mitchell Centre is a Green Building. It has set a new benchmark for efficient, cost effective, Environmental Sustainable Design.