Scotch College – Elliot Lodge

Scotch College has been educating boys for over 160 years and is the oldest continuing secondary school in Victoria.  When the time came for Scotch College to redevelop their recreation facility at Elliot Lodge (Chum Creek) they appointed Douglas Pattenden of Payne Pattenden Architects to design new camp facilities.   Connellan Industries successfully won the tender and approached Vicbeam to assist in the manufacture and fabrication of 5 GL18 Vic Ash portal frames for their new high-quality mess hall.

The design called for a unique mess hall that would embrace the beautiful surrounding bush land and provide state of the art kitchen facilities.   Douglas said “the concept was derived from a large canvas tent where the material is pulled over the tent poles”, although in this case the roof is pulled over 5 Vic Ash glulam portals.  The mess hall also boasts a large fireplace and polished concrete floors.  A nice feature is the patterned decorative ply lining which converges on the checked plate wood box which also accentuates the angled windows behind the fireplace.

The architect’s intention of creating a link with nature during mealtimes evokes memories of camping in the bush.  The natural relaxing environment is set within wide open spaces and provides a homely feel.

The Elliot Lodge buildings offer a number of sustainable design features.  The development was required to comply with section J of the building code in dealing with energy efficiency for class 2- 9 buildings.  Timber was chosen for its sustainable features and the structures are super insulated with reticulated water heating throughout the polished concrete floors.  Due to being in a high fire risk area (BAL 40) a fire protective cladding was chosen.

Vicbeam was pleased to manufacture and fabricate the portal members and assist with assembly onsite.