Future VCE students at Damascus College will take classes in a $15 million new senior learning precinct, designed to provide an adult-style learning environment.
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Construction on the new building is expected to begin in October and will change the environment for the school's oldest students and the staff teaching and advising them.
Principal Steven Mifsud said the new senior learning precinct would "transform our senior pathways" and be built at the rear of the existing school buildings to take full advantage of the bushland setting.
"The space is really well designed to make it feel like a university or TAFE," Mr Mifsud said.
"It's a really strong adult environment which is a legacy to what this campus was previously as St Martins in the Pines which was a senior school for year 11 and 12."
The new three-storey building will contain 23 classrooms, open spaces where students can collaborate, a kitchen workspace, outdoor learning areas, and offices for staff including VCE and VCE - Vocational Major coordinators, careers advisors and others.
"We've got lots of staff offices up there providing opportunity for students and staff to work together in different spaces. This is not a traditional high school setting with staff in one space and students in another," Mr Mifsud said.
An open feature internal staircase will be an architectural feature of the new build, providing a light-filled connection between the upper levels of the building. Tiered seating will provide for lecture-style addresses for students and glass wall on the lower level will open to create an indoor-outdoor space and natural amphitheatre.
"In developing the holistic learner, the building is designed to encourage further capacity for independent study, collaborative working spaces, and additional areas for groups to gather in connecting our community," Mr Mifsud said.
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The new build will include eco-friendly materials, an expansion of the school's array of solar panels and a focus on sustainable operating practices.
The school has worked with Law Architects to develop the senior learning precinct plan, and will continue to work with them on a new master plan for the future of the school.
Ballarat builders AW Nicholson will build the new precinct, with site fences expected to be erected during the school holidays and construction to begin in October with an anticipated completion date of early 2025.
"The natural topography of the campus presents unique challenges in both design and construction and despite this, Law Architects have been able to achieve a design outcome which is sympathetic to the site," AW Nicholson director Stephen Allen said.
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