Entrant:
Prolam
Category:
11. Public & Community Building Award
Photographed by:
Mark Tantrum
Key team members:
Architect: Andrew Sexton Architecture
Structural and Fire Engineer: Spencer Holmes
Builder: Makers Fabrication
Overview
Whitby Collegiate
The Whitby Collegiate Science and Arts Classroom Pavilion was conceived as both a high-performing learning environment and a teaching tool.
Delivered within a compressed five-month design and consent programme followed by five months of prefabrication and construction, the project integrates a new classroom pavilion into the existing campus, aligning with and strengthening the school’s evolving built identity.
Structurally, the pavilion demonstrates confidence in timber as a complete building system. Designed and constructed entirely from timber, with no structural steel members used, the building exploits the structural capabilities and ecological benefits of wood. A considered mix of engineered timber elements provide strength, dimensional stability and long-term durability suited to a high-use educational setting, and support a functional spatial layout appropriate for science and arts teaching spaces.
The choice of timber is multi-layered. It is attractive, robust and low maintenance and its organic character integrates the pavilion with the neighbouring bush context, softening the existing campus fabric and contributing to a tranquil collegiate atmosphere.
A defining feature of the pavilion is the covered timber walkway extending the full length of the classroom frontage. A colonnade of regularly paired Prolam glulam posts establishes rhythm and presence while providing sheltered circulation and informal gathering space for students and staff. Clad in Lunawood – a chemical-free, heat- and steam-treated timber – with Vitex decking underfoot, the walkway combines durability with warmth and tactility appropriate to the setting.
In addition, the building’s construction is intentionally legible. Rather than concealing key timber elements, the design allows structure and material to remain visible, reinforcing clarity of assembly and the logic of engineered timber fabrication. This transparency gives the pavilion a distinct architectural aesthetic while supporting its educational role.
Educational intent is embedded in this visibility. The building itself becomes an exemplar for students, demonstrating the practical application of renewable materials and contemporary timber engineering in an instructive way. In doing so, it aligns with Whitby Collegiates’ ethos as a school grounded in its natural environment and committed to responsible design.
Environmental and social sustainability informed material selection throughout. Radiata pine glulam is renewable, locally sourced and stores carbon throughout its lifecycle, typically carrying lower embodied energy than comparable steel systems. Internally, Woodtex acoustic ceiling panels made from upcycled wood wool enhance acoustic comfort, while radiata pine plywood dado linings provide durability in high-traffic areas. Together, these elements create a welcoming, healthy and enduring environment that supports learning and wellbeing.
Prefabricated in five modules at Makers Fabrication’s Seaview factory, the classrooms were installed during the summer break to minimise disruption to school operations. Off-site timber construction improved quality control, reduced on-site time and delivered programme certainty – a critical consideration for public and community projects.
Through structural clarity, prefabrication efficiency and a deliberate commitment to material transparency, the Whitby Collegiate Classroom Pavilion demonstrates how engineered timber products can deliver durable, sustainable and instructive public architecture – and reinforcing timber’s role in the future of education infrastructure.