Barker College Sustainable Hub

Scheduled to open this month in Sydney is Barker College Maths and Senior Studies Hub, located in Hornsby and founded in 1890. The new building reflects the sustainability goals outlined in Barker’s Sustainability Charter through collaborative design and engineering.

The project’s architect has incorporated several sustainable design features into the building design, with the structure made from timber due to its environmental and sustainability benefits. The benefits included both its low embodied energy and sequestering of carbon during its lifetime of growth.

The mass timber structure, exposed from within the building, establishes a subtle connection with nature, and the Biophilic qualities facilitate increased productivity and improved focus and concentration for both the students and teachers.

Hess Timber has been responsible for the timber construction planning, production, and delivery of around 600 m³ of prefabricated glulam elements which were shipped to Australia in 40-foot containers.

The construction company Buildcorp was responsible for the overall planning as well as the execution of the project. From a structural point of view, the two upper floors of the new building consist of a glulam frame as well as ceiling elements made of cross laminated timber lying on top of it.

The high degree of prefabrication enabled simple, quick, and economic assembly on site. The glulam had already been coated at the factory – and most of the necessary steel parts had also been assembled. The construction of Barker’s new Maths Hub and Senior Studies Centre is a harmonious addition to the campus, with the form and natural materials creating connections between the new and old architecture. The building’s scale and contemporary form respect the adjacent Rosewood Centre and the broader campus’ masterplan.