Siniat provided a range of plasterboard products and metal framing systems along with the engineering design for the new facilities of the Gold Coast’s special assistance school, Arcadia College.
Located at Centreline Place, Robina, the private education facility - completed in late 2020 - is an expansion of the secondary school’s Varsity Lakes campus and provides a fostering learning environment to students who – for varying reasons – have disengaged from mainstream schooling.
Designed by Burling Brown Architects, the $11.4-million Arcadia College project is a greenfield venture adjacent to the Robina Translink train station. It has been designed to accommodate 300 students for years 7 to 12, and provides a unique design that is different from the traditional school environment.
Observing that the design focussed on collaboration and a holistic approach to education, Dylan McLaughlin from Burling Brown Architects explained, “It is not the traditional classroom setup with a teacher in front and students sitting at individual desks. Instead classrooms accommodate more versatile arrangements, and many of the rooms have built-in kitchens.”
Offering 3,000m² of space over three storeys, the building has a futuristic design, with curved angles juxtaposing with angular lines. Bright orange, blue and white panels contrast with more earthy tones, and unique lights made of recycled oil drums are an eye-catching feature in the main void near the entrance.
A basketball court, indoor rock climbing area and commercial size cafeteria are among the facilities at the school.
Involved in the project from the beginning, Siniat supplied a full engineering design to help meet the unique requirements of the building.
Siniat plasterboard products including TruRock HD, SoundShield, FireShield and CurveShield as well as metal framing systems helped to achieve the architects’ vision of simple and smooth lines, backed by the robustness and resilience required to make the building a functional yet beautiful structure for many years to come.
Alder Constructions, the contractor used full Siniat systems, incorporating 1.15BMT gauge metal. TruRock HD was used on most walls for its impact resistance and sound insulation properties. This multifunctional performance plasterboard is made with a high density gypsum core embedded with a continuous fibreglass reinforcement.
Given the challenges presented by the adjacent train station and many hard surfaces, acoustic treatment in the school was an important design consideration for which SoundShield was specified.
An excellent showcase for Siniat’s engineering design, the Arcadia School’s acoustic environment is very comfortable with no echoes present despite the numerous glass surfaces, empty walls and concrete floors.
The expertise of Siniat’s engineers was of special help in turning the vision of a double volume curved wall on the second storey into reality. The challenge of this feature wall lay in creating a smooth and even curve in a high fire rated wall. To achieve this design goal, two layers of 6mm CurveShield and two layers of 16mm FireShield were used on both sides.
The result is a smooth curve, and thanks to the excellent job done by Calstock Walls & Ceilings, the subcontractors for ceilings and linings, not even a bright fluorescent light in the centre creates any glancing light issues.
“Siniat’s assistance with this project has helped to achieve a great result,” said Peter Guild from Calstock Walls & Ceilings. “Their engineering and advice have certainly helped us to achieve the architect’s vision for this unique project.”
