Manjimup SHS Science Laboratories - JCY

On the edge of Manjimup, a large inland town in WA’s South-West, is a multi-purpose educational campus which has expanded since 1999 from a Senior High School to include a TAFE, a primary school, and an Edith Cowan University facility.

Three science laboratories and an accompanying staff office have been constructed in the northern part of the campus, replacing transportable buildings that used to house the senior high school’s physics and chemistry labs.

At first impression they are well-sized classroom spaces with an abundance of natural light, with a simple arrangement of laboratory benches lining three walls and a central teaching space to contain standard classroom desks.  We understand from chatting to people in the town that it is a product of State Government BER and RfR funding, and that they thought it was too expensive for what they got.

What was surprising about them was the poor acoustics.  We were unsure what exactly caused the echo (hard surfaces? high level window thirty students in the room to provide absorbent soft tissue, a design factor which cannot always be relied upon.  We were unsure why sound-absorbing ceiling tiles had not been included in the first instance, and were concerned by the retrofitted glue-fixed acoustic tiles and the school’s addition of carpeting to a laboratory space.

FJE noted that the buildings were surprisingly modest in colour and material compared to other JCY projects that we have previously encountered, such as Atwell College which is located in the one of the southern suburbs of Perth.

Atwell College