Buderims Inspiration

This motivating performance centre built for Matthew Flinders Anglican College is located in Buderim Mountain, Queensland. Buderim is an urban centre that sits on a 180 metre mountain overlooking the southern Sunshine Coast communities. It is only minutes away from the world-class beaches of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Buderim today has a population of over 30,000 and growing, reflecting the mountain’s high degree of liveability and the pleasant lifestyle that it offers to residents and visitors alike.

Dimond Architects were used to design the new performance centre at Matthew Flinders Anglican College. The College has a well established reputation in the performing arts and music, although their previous facilities were lacking style and inspiration for the students. The school required a building that would not only enhance the environment for teachers and students for skills development, but would serve multiple purposes within the College and wider community.

Dimond Architects were engaged to fulfill a strict brief, which was to design a building that can accommodate 600 people for a drama performance, can be adapted to accommodate 1,300 students for a school assembly, or can seat 500 at tables for dining. In addition to the main auditorium, the building also needed to house a dance studio, cafe and bar areas, a uniform and book shop, a large commercial kitchen and a new canteen. The project brief was large and required a builder that was efficient and precise. Integral Construction Pty Ltd were used to construct the building due to their experience and reputation for high quality workmanship.

As a part of the build, many large panel windows and doors were needed to complete the project. Integral Construction and local aluminium window and door manufacturers Hitec Glazing Pty Ltd have a good longstanding relationship and have completed numerous projects together using AWS high performance window systems. Hitec Glazing were used as the window and door fabricator in the project as their services were recommended to the architect by the builder. Hitec Glazing delivered an impressive solution for the project which has become one of the building’s distinguishing features.

The four sets of curved Bi-fold doors fitted with louvre high-lights, installed into a stunning curved wall make for an impressive feature. A number of products from the Elevate™ Aluminium Systems range were utilised in this project and were preferred due to their high performance, bold frames and durability. Elevate™ Series 400 CentreGLAZE™ framing with 50 Series commercial doors were used, along with Elevate™ Series 452 commercial sliding windows. Elevate™ Series 411 top-hung Bi-fold doors were also used in this project as they are able to be manufactured with compliant panels up to 3000mm high.

Upon completion of the project, Dimond Architects commended Hitec Glazing for their ability to manufacture custom made aluminium windows and doors to such a high quality in a timely manner. The architects were pleased with the workmanship Hitec Glazing possessed and were impressed with the final result. The building is now a functional learning space for students, teachers and the community alike that allows their inner creativity to run free. The appearance and ambience of the building has improved student focus.