The Bialik College Besen Family Art and Technology Centre is a multi-function educational facility comprising ten learning studios, recording studio, lecture theatre, exhibition gallery and separate VCE common room. A diverse range of spaces serve the two major departments of technology and art which, located on the ground and first floors respectively, are linked vertically via a naturally lit, central circulation shaft.
A predominant feature of the centre is the sweeping two-storey, screened ‘verandah’ created in response to an existing amphitheatre to the west of the site. This functions not only as a shading and access device but also provides additional outdoor workspace and affords casual viewing of the amphitheatre courtyard and associated performance space below.
One of the major challenges presented by the brief was to give coherent architectural expression to the interplay of seemingly contradictory forces inherent in the fields of art and technology. The centre provides for the students a living example of how these two areas of study will continue to inform and complement each other.