BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE THE DIGGING BEGINS

WITH SIGNIFICANT INTEREST AND A GROWING ENROLMENT PROFILE, MENTONE GRAMMAR EMBARKED ON THE SUBSTANTIAL BAYVIEW BUILDING PROJECT, THAT COMMENCED IN JULY 2022.

To accommodate the growing number of students entering our School at Year 7, the School commissioned the construction of a new Bayview Precinct, for Years 7 & 8, incorporating 20 new classrooms, staff facilities, an Administration and Reception Centre, Science facilities, a multipurpose hall with capacity for 300 seated patrons, various change rooms and bathrooms, along with myriad modern and innovative learning spaces.

In addition to the learning and teaching spaces, the development of an 80-car parking space incorporating drop-off and pick-up zones, dedicated bus bays and a multipurpose garden are also included in the project. Quite simply, this is the largest scale building works undertaken by the School.

Following initial surveys and extensive consultation and planning, the works commenced with the installation of fences and hoardings to secure the boundaries of the site and to ensure the safety of members of the School and surrounding community. Deconstruction of the existing Bayview building followed, providing an exciting backdrop to what was happening in the classrooms of Eblana, Riviera and Bayview and we had a number of students and staff take time to watch and marvel at the process. To further support their understanding of the process, Darren Nagel from 2Construct stopped by at student assemblies to talk with students about what was happening outside their windows. Darren informed the students that the debris was all classified and combined to ensure that materials were not just allocated as rubbish and taken away to the tip, but rather processed for recycling as much as possible. The installation of services, such as electricity and gas followed, including the installation of a new electrical switchboard to ensure existing services within the School remained operational.

The arrival and assembly of the piling rig, alongside significant earthworks, enabled the preparation for the foundations of both the Bayview Precinct and the carpark structure and, again, fascinated our students given the size and scale of the equipment. The pouring of the slab signified a milestone in the project and the Bayview building has progressed significantly since that time.The commencement of formwork and the precast installations quickly led to the Level 1 pour and subsequently the Level 2 pour.

The initial works moved ahead well on schedule, however, the weather has not always been so forgiving and there have been many days hindered by inclement weather as we moved through from September to the end of the 2022. Despite those setbacks, our project managers remain optimistic regarding timelines and are making impressive progress for the exciting completion towards the end of our Centenary year of 2023.

CAMERON LANCASTER HEAD OF SCHOOL OPERATIONS