Located in the leafy suburb of Mosman Park between the Indian Ocean and the Swan River, Iona Presentation College was founded on 11 September 1907. Steeped in tradition and heritage, Iona’s desire is to ignite a passion for lifelong learning that enables exploration, reflection, creativity, and achievement.
The nature of education has changed significantly over the years, with far greater interaction by students with hands-on activities and individualised experiences that increase engagement and creativity. This means that the learning space also needs to evolve to support the quality teaching and learning experience. The new senior school learning centre provides modern environments that promote collaboration while allowing independent ‘thinking’ time. Flexible learning spaces allow students to create, investigate, explore, and communicate to ignite their passion for a life-long love of learning.
Contemporary learning environments foster creativity and focus, but the non-conventional classroom requires non-conventional lighting. The new Iona Learning Centre uses natural light to connect the students to the outside world and increase the perception of the space. Provision of adequate lighting requires flexibility, whether in traditional front-facing lectures or broken out into collaborative teams. The lighting must be able to adapt. Using a combination of Titanium downlights and LX linear lighting ensures adequate task lighting no matter the desk configuration.
In collaborative spaces, using DALI control system, the lights can be dimmed or brightened to create the perfect environment. With a warmer colour temperature in the reading areas, the students can decompress in a more relaxed ambiance. The areas used for screen-based and focused learning is brightened to 4000K. In addition to the task lighting, Iona has honoured the architectural design intent and integrated both accent and ambient lighting into the space.
The use of flicker-free lighting in educational settings is important to ensure the best learning outcomes. Both visible and invisible flicker is attributed as a major cause of migraines and headaches, along with eye strain and general discomfort in spaces where people spend prolonged lengths of time, e.g. the classroom. Using high-frequency drivers removes the cause of the flicker, and limits the temporal light artifacts that can affect visual perception.
The new learning centre demonstrates Iona’s commitment to providing quality education for its students.
To see the full project feature in First Light Edition 2 click here!
Credits
Architects EIW
Builders: PS Structures
Electrical engineering and lighting design: Lucid Consulting Australia
Electrician: Eltech Services
Lighting distributor: Mondoluce
