Ballygriffin wins Architectural Award!

Avila College’s Senior Learning Centre, Ballygriffin won the 2023 Excellence in Educational Facility Design Award from the Association for Learning Environments (Victoria/Tasmania) and the category award for New Buildings or Facilities (Small).

Named in honour of the Venerable Nano Nagle’s birthplace in Ireland, Ballygriffin is a two storey complex featuring flexible and interactive contemporary spaces for learning and teaching, purposefully designed to cultivate community connections. It incorporates numerous common areas and multi purpose zones where senior students can collaborate and interact in an setting reflective of contemporary tertiary environments and modern workplaces.

Environmentally sensitive in design, with an emphasis on sustainability and innovation, the building maximises natural light. During the planning stages, a thermal study was conducted to identify where the sun would project at all hours of the day, across the seasons, which informed placement of windows and internal features.

Avila students were integral to the design process. Learning captains and student committees shared their insights and suggestions throughout the architectural planning stages and helped select the furniture and fittings to create “the most engaging environment for learning”.

Ballygriffin was built with the assistance of a $2 million grant from the Victorian Non-Government Schools Capital Fund and supported by the Member for Ashwood Mr Matt Fregon.

If you would like to visit Ballygriffin, register for an upcoming school tour to walk through and view the building in person.