By Claire Touzel,
Marketing Director, Australia & New Zealand
Shaw Contract
2025
Behind the Design
At its heart, the project was driven by a simple but powerful idea: to set a bold new benchmark for sustainable, inclusive, and progressive learning environments at Victoria University. The intention was to transform four ageing buildings at the Footscray Park Campus into vibrant, immersive spaces that support VU’s innovative “Block Model” of teaching. This educational model demands spaces where students can spend extended periods focused on a single subject, requiring environments that balance technical capability with human-centred design.
Using the language of adaptive reuse, the design team reimagined under-utilised but strategically located existing campus environments into a cohesive network of contemporary spaces, prioritising student experience and wellbeing. Through immersive spatial planning, carefully tuned acoustics, natural materiality, and ambient lighting, the design tells a story of transformation, breathing new life into existing structures while preserving their history and embodied cultural value.
All photography by Dianna Snape
Storytelling is woven through the project’s On Country design responses, developed in consultation with Victoria University’s Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit. These elements honour place, people, and cultural identity, ensuring that the spaces speak not just to function but also to the spirit of connection and community.
Guided by a series of general design strategies, the team adopted a consistent “kit of parts” approach, ensuring alignment with VU’s current standards and contemporary learning space trends. All classroom typologies share a consistent DNA in their look and feel, technology, AV systems, and furniture, responsive to the Block Model® curriculum pedagogy. A characteristic of this curriculum is the three-hour class times. This was a key consideration in the design response through the selection of a mature and calming and natural palette of finishes within classrooms whilst the breakout spaces are more lively and individual. Student breakout spaces and circulation zones were carefully contextualised and activated with diverse settings to foster social and academic engagement.
Design solutions blend innovative technology with analogue tools to foster collaboration and interaction, maintaining the benefits of on-campus learning. Vibrant breakout spaces, rich in textures and warm materials, shift the mood, providing places for informal gathering, creative work, or quiet respite. Together, these elements create a seamless experience that is engaging, intuitive, and deeply attuned to the diverse needs of learners and educators alike.
The selection of floor finishes was a critical element in contributing to this design strategy. The carpet tiles were a mixture of standard range selection as well as a customised range that responded to the design aspirations. Predominantly within the learning spaces this range was developed through prototyping a number of custom weaves to deliver the desired end outcome.
Featured Collection: Accent
Accent is a versatile and value-driven carpet tile collection featuring colours inspired by the stunning beauty of Australia's landscapes. Available In Stock in Australia, Accent offers carpet tiles that effortlessly coordinate with a wide range of Shaw Contract collections. Whether grounding a space or making a bold statement, this timeless palette brings versatility to any project — supporting your unique design narrative with a deep Australian sense of place.