Where Sports Walk meets Scenic Boulevard, lies a building that embodies modern student living. That building is Logan Hall at Monash University House. This is one of four similar accommodations. They were designed concurrently by three individual design teams. McBride Charles Ryan designed Logan Hall. Jackson Clements Burrows and Hayball Architects in association with Richard Middleton Architects designed the others.
Monash University was conceived in the modernist heyday. Buildings are objects and mini-megastructures. The exceptional and the ordinary dot the native landscape. These origins give the campus its uniqueness. They also detract from its urbanity. Monash University Design Review Panel seeks to bring more definition to the Clayton campus. Their work enhances the environmental quality through defined precincts. They improve the clarity of the campus landscape. They also conceive of Monash University as a 24-7 University City. There is a tension between the origins and uniqueness of the campus. This contrasts with the desire for a new sense of urban legibility. The project for Logan Hall responds to this tension. It also addresses the MGS Architects masterplan.
Logan Hall reinforces the civic and urban quality of Scenic Boulevard. The L-shaped building defines an open garden space for the students. The modularity of the student units provides an expressive form. It recalls the distinct modernist formalism evident in the Campus. The ground level colonnade is both cloister and modernist piloti. It suggests the building is a new complex hybrid.
The building’s stepped form and colonnade define a landscaped foreground. This sits alongside the newly developed Sports Walk. The colonnade aligns with the natural pedestrian desire lines of the campus. It also provides a sheltered space between ground floor cafes and the northern landscaped forecourt.
Logan Hall is a six-level building. It has 250 rooms of student accommodation. The ground floor of Logan Hall has a mix of retail tenants. Building services are located in a landscaped courtyard. Residents can enjoy garden and BBQ facilities. The resident’s foyer is positioned where the two wings of the building meet. Pedestrians can access this foyer from both the north and south. Vertical circulation and common facilities are grouped in this corner on each level. These include double-height common and games rooms. These are places of increased activity where students meet and socialize. They also enjoy the eastern views toward the Dandenongs.
Differing color schemes appear in the public spaces of each level. Four distinct apartment color schemes are peppered throughout. This provides the building with identity and vibrancy. Each student has their own bedroom, ensuite, and kitchenette. Thirty students have access to a communal kitchen. Here, more elaborate meals can be prepared as a group. There are also small communal lounges per community and on each floor. Monash Residential Services manages each of the halls. Each community has a resident advisor. Each hall has a live-in head and deputy.
Turner Hall negotiates its open recreational landscapes to the north and south. It is like a giant glazed-brick garden wall. Holman and Campbell Halls frame a north-facing teardrop landscape. It echoes the spatial generosity of a traditional college lawn.
Monash University acts to fill its residential vacuum. The aim is to have more than four thousand student beds on campus by 2030. Celebrating landscape design and making legible urban design moves have been key strategies. The creation and consolidation of College Walk connects the 1960s colleges. Student housing frames the edge and connecting urban fabric.