Geoff Handbury Science and Technology Hub

Overview

The Geoff Handbury Science and Technology Hub at Melbourne Grammar School is a singular sculptural building designed by Denton Corker Marshall. Its curved form responds directly to the main campus oval, while its materiality — sympathetic to the school’s established Bluestone Campus character — roots it firmly within the heritage precinct. Internally, the building is organised around flexible, transparent teaching and learning environments that blur the boundary between formal laboratory settings and collaborative informal spaces. The result is a facility designed as much for the way students learn as for what they study.

The Brief

The top floor of the Hub includes an Outdoor Learning Area — an indoor/outdoor space conceived as a scientific exploration and experimentation zone, distinct in character from the more formal teaching laboratories below. The brief called for laboratory benches that would reinforce this distinction: purpose-built for hands-on scientific work, but with a design quality that made the space feel like more than a functional fit-out.

The benches needed to be curved in plan to support small-group collaboration, and the design team sought a form that tapered in section — eliminating the need for protective kickplates by creating an ergonomic profile students could stand at comfortably. Integrated sinks were required within the benchtop surface. Durability in an active school laboratory environment was a non-negotiable baseline.

Material Specification

Corian® Solid Surface in Glacier White was specified for the laboratory benches throughout the Outdoor Learning Area.

The specification was driven by three requirements: the ability to achieve complex double-curved geometry, seamless integration of sinks within the benchtop surface, and the long-term durability demanded by a school laboratory setting. Corian®’s thermoformability made the curved and tapered bench profiles achievable without visible joins at transition points. Integrated Corian® sinks were incorporated directly into the surface, eliminating exposed edges or join lines at functional cutouts.

Design Outcome

Each bench was fabricated off-site in three sections by Schiavello Manufacturing, with final joining and polishing completed on site to produce a continuous, seamless surface. The double-curved geometry — curved in plan, tapering in section — created benches with a sculptural quality that stands apart from standard laboratory furniture while remaining fully functional.

The Glacier White finish reinforces the clean, precise character of the space. Feedback from staff and students after the first months of use confirmed both the comfort of the ergonomic form and the impact of the design. The benches have drawn varied responses — including from Indigenous students, who have drawn connections between the curved forms and the serpents of Dreamtime stories.

Why It Works for Similar Projects

Education projects — particularly science facilities — place demands on benchtop surfaces that few materials meet without compromise. The surfaces must withstand chemical exposure, frequent cleaning, and heavy daily use; they must accommodate integrated fixtures without visible seams; and, increasingly, they need to contribute to the design quality of the space rather than detract from it.

Corian®’s combination of thermoformability, seamless fabrication, and repairability makes it well suited to laboratory environments where both performance and longevity matter. For specifiers working on science buildings, learning hubs, or any educational facility where benchtop surfaces carry a functional and aesthetic brief, this project demonstrates what that specification can deliver.

Projects like the Geoff Handbury Science and Technology Hub show what becomes possible when complex design intent is backed by precise fabrication. If you’re working on a science facility, learning hub, or any project where Corian® needs to perform as both a technical and design material, CASF’s Design Certainty Service can help you get from concept to fabricator-ready documentation — shop drawings, renders, and technical support at no charge to the specifier.

Explore the Design Certainty Service

Designing in Corian^®?
Let's get you fabricator-ready drawings.