Strathmore Secondary College

Refer to Publications Page

Strathmore Secondary College cafeteria and classrooms, were part of the Stage 1 Development of SSC. The complex includes a kitchen, outdoor canteen servery, a covered way plus two classrooms fronting an existing courtyard.

The school’s vision for the cafeteria was that of a civilised and robust place for students to eat and socialise. Staff would also use it. Espresso would be served and senior students could spend free time there.

The cafeteria is the only building in the school where one is expected to sit and gaze out a window. Overlooking the oval and trees to the north, there is a long view through a large wall of glass such as found in restaurants at scenic locations.

The site was once the Moonee Ponds Creek. During the construction of the Tullamarine freeway the creek was filled and detoured to a concrete ditch. The most dramatic element of the cafeteria is the forest of forty-three ten metre deep piles on which it is supported. Concrete formed in irregular tilted blocks suggest excavated rubble forms the base of the cafeteria’s north wall.

The cafeteria is assembled upon its concrete base; constructed and tidied up rather than finished off.

The floor slab appears unsealed, suggesting it was originally outdoors, while only recently enclosed by steel, glass, unpainted masonite, mirror, corflute and plywood. Dramatically visible green polyester insulation is seen stuffed between timber stud framing.

The creative misuse of building products initiated in Bird Monster Pool Window continues in the cafeteria with the selection of layered expanded metal sheets to provide shading to the upper windows. This familiar material is used here in fine gauges and is zinc passivated, rendering it gold. A composition of staggered overlaps of three layers emphasises the thin fanciness of the fabric and its sheet format.

The Cafeteria and Suspended Ceiling (in LITE, Penthouse and Pavement) explore the relationship between building product and materiality, revisiting old debates between ornament and structure in building fabric.
Insulation is positioned here, with reference to Semper’s hanging textiles, as a primary fabric of shelter, providing both comfort and a surface to which meaning can adhere. Meaning in this instance is not limited to either the identity of a prosaic building product, or its fibrous materiality, and is foregrounded by its visibility; fluffy, green, 400mm wide and straight out of the bag.

SCHOOL CAFETERIA
Know Your Product
Adapted from SubPlot Zine #1

Insulation batts come in at least five distinct colours: gold, green, blue, pink and white, plus less distinct varieties of pinkish beige. CSR’s glasswool Bradford Gold Batts are gold. A wool-based product is off white. Blue, green, pink and white polyester batts are available. As insulation is hidden within walls and roofs it is coloured only to aid product identification; green perhaps signifying concern for the environment, and pink an established brand name, Pink Batts. Some manufacturers use colour to distinguish acoustic from thermal insulation. This colouring differs from that of products such as bricks, carpet and tiles, which are manufactured in colour ranges for our selection and sometimes in the colours of their raw materials. There is usually no reason to exercise choice in the selection of colour of insulation. The colour of the batt is a function of its identity as a marketed product. I selected green for the cafeteria and pink for another project called Complicated House.

The pink ones are very pretty, sometimes streaked with crimson. The green are nice too, but sometimes have white bits where the dye hasn’t taken and they may also have streaks of blue. It depends what you like. Both pink and green are equally fluffy. If the batts are backlit the colour is intensified.