MIC Adolescent House
As a point of difference, Montessori requires the design of the learning environment for the 12-15yr old cohort to be a vibrant, homelike setting (“Adolescent House”) allowing students to run the household – to cook, clean, process and preserve food, study, reflect, socialise, and be members of a healthy community of adolescents and adults. Within this setting, residential boarding is provided for 24 students allowing young people to take initiative, assume responsibility, and even risk failure.
Due to the programmatic need to provide a compact building analogous of a “bee hive”, Adolescent House is a 3 storey building. To attenuate traffic noise from Maroochydore Road, non-habitable rooms are located on mezzanine levels forming a southern block to shield learning areas and habitable rooms. An Atrium defines the main circulation spine horizontally and vertically, maximising the feeling of spaciousness and connectedness within constrained building floor heights. The Atrium is a key device providing natural ventilation and daylight working in conjunction with solar chimneys and clerestory. Accommodation rooms are located on the third floor and access to this area can be controlled and limited to residential boarders and carers. Each boarding room enjoys northern views of the surrounding wetlands. |
|