Firbank Grammar Music School

Designed by Cox Architecture, the Firbank Grammar ‘New Music School’ project in Melbourne, Australia enabled the expansion of the school’s flourishing music program and is an unmistakably musical building.

This building was constructed around acoustic environments optimized for learning. The architecture emanates from the production of sound outwards. Every wall was placed, anchored, and detailed to intercept, reflect, and treat sound for the most enjoyable and effective experience of practice or performance.

The scope of works comprised the refurbishment of ‘Firbank House’, the school’s foundational building, and the addition of a new acoustically-tuned facility for rehearsal, tuition, and performance.

The Cox Architecture scheme combined high-mass masonry construction for acoustic isolation with complex interior linings engineered to produce excellent clarity of sound for learning and performance whilst maintaining spaces that are flexible, functional, and inspiring.

The exterior of the building is wrapped on three elevations by a screen that is perforated to represent the school’s song, both figuratively and in codified graphic notation.

Details reference different historical forms of music notation throughout the building, with music on show from inside and out through plentiful glazing and of course the sounds of voice, acoustic, and amplified instruments.

The program consists of a large rehearsal room for a full orchestra, tuition rooms of various sizes, administrative spaces, and generous circulation spaces that accommodate both social gatherings and the maneuvering of musical equipment.

Glazed ‘gaskets’ sensitively connect the new-build to the Victorian era Firbank House and landscaping ties the new development into the existing campus with areas provided for play and socializing.

The school’s brief favoured an atmosphere of aural connection over hermetically sealed practice rooms and natural light over complete isolation from the sounds of the campus outside.

This encouraged an exploration of the play of light and shadows on the complex acoustic paneling used to create accurate reproductions of the tone of each instrument.

The approach to this paneling differs depending on its specific acoustic function; the verticality of the reverberant choir room is accentuated by tall, thin panels, while the slightly drier orchestra rehearsal room is cocooned in twisting perforated plywood.

Each space integrates teaching infrastructure such as A.V., writable notation boards, and mirrors in a way that suits the scale of ensemble or type of teaching while also considering the acoustic impacts of these everyday elements.

A light touch was given to the century-old Firbank House, whose proportions and materiality are made acoustically pleasing with absorptive wall paneling integrated to maintain connections to the school’s past.

Musical instrument lockers made from spotted gum plywood line the walls of the new foyer, which welcome outside visitors to performances; perhaps the only giveaway is that the building’s primary focus is educational.

Providing a refined environment akin to a concert hall communicates a message that music is valued, that the spaces provided to young musicians here are not only precise enough to cultivate excellent musicianship but inspiring in their atmosphere and comfortable enough to encourage the hours of practice that will see students go on to become the next generation of Australian performers.

Project Details

Project size- 1,030 m2
Project budget – $5,700,000
Completion date – 2019

Project Team

Architecture

Cox Architecture

COX is a design-focused contemporary architectural practice with studios located in every major Australian city and a history spanning 60 years.

The key to their ethos is supporting the public life of our cities. Cox does this by ensuring each project makes positive contributions to its public realm – giving more than it takes.

www.coxarchitecture.com.au

Photography

Dan Farrar

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Dan has over a decade in the industry as both architect and photographer. His knowledge of the built form and his natural eye for detail combine effortlessly to deliver consistently across any sector and at any scale.

Clients range from small award-winning studios to AJ100 practices and his work has been internationally published online and in print by the likes of The Architect’s Journal, Dezeen, ArchDaily, Design Milk, and Yatzer.

Dan’s images have also been used in award-winning submissions at the Scottish Design Awards and American Institute of Architects Awards and in submissions for the Victorian Architecture Awards.

www.danfarrar.com.au