Minx Architecture are thrilled to announce the opening of our new Geelong Studio.

Cathal Dolan, will be heading up our Geelong operations from Factory 21 at 21 Rutland Street, Newtown.

Cathal is our Senior Associate and has extensive experience in the education sector. Together with our directors, Cathal is involved in a number of projects in the Geelong area:

Belmont High School Performing Arts CentreSt Thomas Aquinas Primary School UpgradeSt Mary MacKillop Primary School, Bannockburn.Holy Family Primary School Master PlanHoly Spirit Primary School Master PlanSt Francis Xavier Primary School Master Plan

If you are in the area and need assistance with any education projects, make sure you call and pop in for a chat and a coffee!

MINX ARCHITECTURE

Geelong Studio Factory 21

21 Rutland Street

Newtown, Vic 3220

Phone: 039 646 7000

Direct: 0497 40 7000

Communities across the state love their old school houses. The sentimentality that is attached to these structures is often a challenge when a schools pedagogy is no longer supported by a cellular teaching space.

Over the years Minx has re-purposed a number of old school houses:

Macclesfield Primary School - a new parents room

Gembrook Primary School - a new library

Mt Eliza Primary School - a new outside hours school care facility

Blackburn South Primary School - a new music centre

Neerim South Primary School - a new administration centre

At Hampton Park Primary School for the first time the Department of Education has funded a relocation and gifted the building to the Local Council. The old school house has been jacked up, put on the back of a truck and moved across the road to the council reserve. The city of Casey will be upgrading the school house to create a new community centre. This has been a fantastic result for the local community, retaining the local heritage of Hampton Park and allowing the school to develop contemporary new facilities in response to the needs of 21C learners.

A great example of community and schools working together to create spaces for all.

Back in 2009 when the BER was in full swing, Minx Architecture assisted Albert Park Primary School in negotiating the design and construction of the first Double Story Portables in Victoria. These were installed using the schools BER funding to alleviate the pressures of peak student enrolments on a constrained site. Since then a number of similar projects have been implemented throughout the state.

This week driving by Albert Park Primary School we snapped this shot - of the first of the Triple Story Portables to be installed in Victoria.

Clearly growth in enrolments in inner city schools is an ongoing concern, but the question remains: "Is it economically responsible to address this concern with temporary solutions?".

We'll be keeping an eye on this one - and will let you know when we spot a 4 story portable.

2016 has been a busy, but fantastic year for Minx Architecture.

We have celebrated 15 years in business, moved to our new home in Footscray, embraced social media, re-branded, gained a new Associate in Mel Walton and grown from a small to a medium sized Architectural Practice.

We were lucky enough to be recognised for our work by both A4LE and the VSBA in the school design awards with projects at Fairhills Primary School, St Thomas Aquinas Primary School and Hazel Glen College.

Our previously awarded project at Marian College was also showcased at the A4LE Melbourne conference and visited by national and international delegates over the two day tours.

This year we have also welcomed four new staff members to our company - Farah, Ryan, Niquita and Stephanie and look forward to working with them and the rest of our our dedicated team - Cathal, Mel, Frank, Dennis, James, Adam and George in 2017.

In 2016, the education projects that Minx has delivered will enhance the teaching and learning environments for over 5000 students and 200 educators statewide. This makes us feel very proud.

We are now taking a well deserved break and will be back to start the new year on the 11th of January 2017.

Thank you to all of you who have supported us in 2016 and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and enjoyable break. Jane and Jenny

As Minx Directors, we have always been known as “The Girls”. This year one of us turned 50. It didn’t seem to matter much - we are still referred to as “the girls”.

This makes us think that it may not be attributed to our youthful appearances, but perhaps more to our gender.

Emerging as female Architects in the 90’s, often we found ourselves the only “girl” in the office (other than the receptionist or the interior designer).

Often the only “girl” on a building site, we made our contractors uncomfortable, chivalrous and uncharacteristically well mannered at the same time. - “Fuck, er ‘scuse me….”

Today's female Graduate Architects are unlikely to ever experience the same extraordinary insight into a pre-equality existence. Our graduating year was the first to have equal representation of the sexes, our office has equal numbers of males and females and we are increasingly seeing more females in construction roles.

Perhaps we are still a rarity as female company directors, actually we must be - or no one would know who “The Girls” were.

We just wonder if at 60, 70 or 80 we will still be known as “The Girls”?

Hopefully, but only because of our youthful appearances. By then there will be so many other “girls”, it would just be confusing otherwise.

Now the awards hang in our office and we have time to reflect. What does it all mean? Does this mean that we should be taken more seriously? Does this mean that we should perhaps take ourselves more seriously?

The highlight of the awards night (other than receiving the awards) was the moment of humour, when our company photograph slid onto the screen. Strangely when the cheesy photos submitted by other firms flashed up before us, there was a respectful silence. Our photo however was greeted with chuckles.

Sure the day of our professional office photographs did not go to plan, with Jenny turning up in a purple wig with matching purple lipstick. But I still was under the misapprehension that we looked the part in the resulting shot - I did make her remove the wig, but the lipstick was more stubborn - the black and white option still worked for me.

Perhaps this is all out of our control anyway. And perhaps not taking yourself too seriously isn't such a bad thing anyway...........Seriously.

They say 9/11 altered the world. However it was actually 13/9 that changed ours. In the spirit of the current fixation on “risk management” (RM), KPIs and “value adding” (VA) we have a few “lessons learned” (LLs) we would like to share…...

Multi-tasking has its limits:

1. Red wine should not be drunk while colouring in presentation drawings

2. Spilt coffee permanently jams keyboards

3. Chicken schnitzel should not be cooked while marking up documentsWith the deadline looming it's important to remember:

4.When the kitchen table is deemed the workspace, use spray ‘n’ wipe and DRY thoroughly

5. Whiteout CAN be removed from black fabric with DW40

6. Often you can fix equipment by repeatedly turning it off and on

7. Always have multiple back-up plans ……….. digital technology WILL fail

When it seems impossible, confusing, illogical and/or ridiculous, then repeat these mantras:

8. Hang in there long enough and you WILL outlast the problem

9. There will always be another acronym

10. Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth SHUT

11. It will never be perfect …… 100% your best, but never perfect…..

Full comprehension of the following makes it all easier:

12. Abide by the MINX 3F rule (definition to be provided upon request)

13. Teams are GOOD …… as long as Jane gets to be the captain

14. When Jenny says “I might be thick but….” It means she knows exactly what is going on

15. Work to your strengths and team up with a partner to cover your weaknesses

And one LL to take Minx forward:

16. If all else fails then it's time to laugh until your tummy hurts.

Minx are thrilled to announce the appointment of Mel Walton as our new associate.

Mel has been working with us since 2014, and brings to Minx a wealth of experience in education architecture. Jane and Mel originally worked together as graduate Architects at the Sainsbury Reed Group in the 1990’s and the professional friendship has continued through until today.

Mel’s past experience with GHD in Melbourne, Hames Sharley in Perth and Hochschule Konstanz in Germany has taken her across the globe as a Project Architect. We are very pleased that she and her family have now settled back in Melbourne, and chosen to live just down the road from our new office in Footscray.

Mel will be heading up a number of Minx projects including our current work at Mount Saint Joseph Girls College, Marian College and Newport Lakes Primary School. We are sure that these schools will benefit from her skill as a designer and expertise as a Project Architect.

Mel is now in charge of our office well-being and has made excellent progress to date in organising our Friday night drinks, hump-day morning tea and social activities.

Congratulations Mel and we look forward to many morning teas to come!

Increasingly schools have become central to the idea of community. Along with the hall, the library, the church and the pub, our schools have an important role in binding communities together.

And what better place to identify with than a place of learning? The role of the school in supporting life-long learning, families, sporting groups, creatives and community groups has grown along with the state and private sectors understanding of how schools can become community facilities.

No longer do the school gates open at 9:00am and close at 3:30pm. Community partners have enabled schools to become 24hour learning hubs.

Minx have supported numerous community partnerships over the past 15 years, but possibly our most exciting project to date has involved Scouts Victoria and the Department of Education and Training.

Synergies exist that allowed both parties to a joint use agreement to benefit through the development of a new scout hall built on State Education Department Land. The new Hazel Glen Scout Hall provides a community facility that accommodates before and after school care for students of working parents, a community space, additional activity space for the school, outdoor education programs for the senior students at the college and programs for Cubs, scouts and venturers.

The new Scout Hall at Hazel Glen is the first joint venture Hall to be built on a state government school site and is a terrific example of how community facilities can be integrated into school design to provide for a better outcome for all.

What exactly are stakeholders?

In developing the master plan for the education precinct around Hazel Glen College, we came to realise just how many of them there can be.

Our stakeholders involved an extensive cast. Principals from neighbouring secondary colleges and primary schools, the Department of Education, Catholic Education, Whittlesea Council’s early learning, planning, traffic and roads, sport and recreation representatives, Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, Victorian State Government Architect, Victorian Government Review Panel, local parent pressure group representatives, the local mushroom farm and Scouts Victoria. With this extensive group to consult with it did seem strange that there was no student voice in the mix...

This was no ordinary master planning exercise. The office of the Victorian Government Architect established a review panel and, during the design stages of the new K-12 College at Hazel Glen, provided valuable assessment and feedback on the planning and design of the new facilities. Consideration of the proposal as part of the whole education precinct has resulted in this new school providing for educators, students and the broader community for many years to come.

Our instinctive solution, to locate the new facilities at the top of the hill was overruled by the local council, who preferred that the new facilities to have a street address at the bottom of the hill. (Noting that there was no street at the bottom of the hill in existence at the time and it was not likely to be built until after the handover of the buildings). This expressed wish resulted in filling in a ditch, with fill that had to be imported, around trees that had to be protected (but were later removed via chain saw), on a road that didn’t exist without any services in place and only one legal point of discharge available. Not necessarily the most cost effective way to build.

Community partnership opportunities were well considered during the development of the new school. An offer came from the local mushroom farm to contribute to the new hospitality wing to bring the food technology teaching space up to commercial kitchen standard so the potential for the new adjacent performing arts center was realised.

This new building, completed in August 2016 will allow the Doreen community to participate in theatre, dining and social events in a fantastic new school facility. This project was initiated in 2012. The Primary Campus opened in 2013. The Middle Year Campus opened in 2014. The specialist facilities commenced construction in 2015 and were completed in 2016. The Senior Learning Centre is currently being documented and will be completed in 2017.

A truly fantastic stakeholder management exercise by Minx Architecture!

We are often asked how we integrate environmentally sustainable design into our school projects. While new buildings provide us with many opportunities to integrate good orientation, clever building systems and well insulated building fabric, existing buildings can be more challenging.

St. Thomas Aquinas Primary School was accommodated in 1960’s buildings. The building fabric was sound, but disability access limited and the classrooms did not offer flexible teaching and learning spaces.

Repurposing the buildings seemed to be an environmentally sustainable and economical solution at this school. New spaces were designed within the existing envelope, responding to the pedagogy that the school had invested in over the preceding years.

This small project demonstrates how old buildings can be re-imagined to provide flexible and contemporary teaching spaces. This is a project that we are extremely proud of, it was delivered within a tight budget and timeframe, to the pedagogical brief developed by the schools educators.

Fairhills Primary School CEFPI Award for outstanding school facilities, Winner modernisation over $2million.

Providing access for disability is an ongoing challenge for many schools. At Fairhills Primary School, the community wish was to provide learning facilities for all students to be accommodated. Working in conjunction with the local special needs school, the facilities provide for ADHD and Asbergers students, as well as being fully accessible by wheelchair.At the centre of the school is the “Core”. This new linking spine allows for disability access throughout the school, and also provides a link between the four new learning neighbourhoods. It accommodates common flexible use spaces, houses resource material and provides meeting space, presentation areas and quiet study alcoves.

With innovative and lateral thinking, the design team have provided a contemporary and vibrant learning environment for Fairhills Primary School, whilst recycling and refreshing the learning spaces of past decades to embrace current pedagogy. This approach has resulted in a fully realised budget, and a built form which will provide the school with useful, flexible teaching and learning spaces for many years to come.

Do girls need a different type of educational facility to boys?

This is a question that Minx pondered when approached to design a new facility for the Marian Catholic Girls College in Sunshine West.

Do we learn in the same way as the boys?

Do we use space in the same way as boys?

Are our education choices the same as those made by boys?

The Design Warehouse at Marian College sought to answer some of these questions.

The design solution was built around a courtyard of concrete plinths. Walking around the school Minx noticed that the girls were enjoying sitting on the concrete paths. School girl memories were stimulated and it was agreed that there was something lovely about sitting on concrete. The thermal mass, the warmth or coolth make it irresistible to a girl in a school dress.

The facilities in the warehouse allow girls access to Design Technology, Visual Communications, Fabrics, Art, Ceramics and Photography spaces, all arranged around a central collaborative design space that provides for gallery exhibition of the work produced within.

Design Warehouse – Marian College

CEFPI Award for outstanding school facilities, Winner modernisation over $2million.

In 2011 Minx Architecture executed the “Irish Experiment”. Much like in the AFL, this venture has been largely successful. Cathal Dolan hails from a small rural town in on the east coast of Ireland called Carrickmacross. His name is apparently Irish for Charlie.

Naturally part of the Irish Experiment involved working out how to speak Irish.

For a year a big poster was hung in the office as a phonetic reminder of how to pronounce his name:

CUH-HULL. He says it’s easy – just say “Alcohol” without the “Al”. Most still struggle, with the local preferred version usually being CaTHal (like cattle but with a “TH” sound in the middle).

Cathal studied Architecture in Scotland and in 2011 his travels brought him to Melbourne and Minx. His extensive knowledge of the Catholic school system has given Minx valuable insight into the particular requirements of this sector of education.

Cathal became an Associate in 2015 and more recently became engaged to Michelle (another part of the Irish Experiment) in February 2016 and the two lovebirds are heading back to the Emerald Isle in September to marry.

We wish them luck and hope that they enjoy making Australia their new home.

We can only hope that their kids, when they have them will have easier names to pronounce…..

Perhaps Charlie?

In 2010 the Department of Education’s Knox Regeneration Scheme brought with it our first opportunity to design a Prep to Year 12 facility - Boronia College.

The project spanned six years, two stages and totalled $25 million. This is the largest project that Minx Architecture has been involved with to date.

Once again relationships between school, architect, builder and Department of Education were critical to the project, particularly given the timing of the stages, which had a 12 month wait between completion of the first and commencement of the second.

This was a political project from the outset. Two schools merging onto one site, with a “tree sanctuary” in the middle of it, provided a number of challenges to the design team and the school community. Communication and collaboration were the key to the success of this project.

The new K-12 school is comprised of:

New administration, resource hub and senior learning centre.New art and technology facilityNew science centreNew performing arts centre and hospitality wingNew multimedia centreNew canteenNew middle years learning centreNew junior years learning centreRefurbished foundation years learning centresNew outside hours school care facilityNew landscaped central hub areaNew sporting ovals and covered hardcourt area

It was a terrific opportunity to work with two school communities to bring them together to create a new K-12 learning environment.

Should schools be built to stimulate the economy?

Having spent the majority of our working lives master planning and designing Victorian Government State Schools, for Minx it was difficult to witness the BER being rolled out.

Schools desperate for funding, earmarked for capital works were told that their projects had been shelved and template designs were delivered thoughout the state with little regard to the Master Plans that they had in place.

Minx limited their involvement to projects that could not fit the mold.

Neerim South Primary School was one such project.

The fabulous community at Neerim South had a big wish list and a tight budget. Working with the school community, we restored the heritage school house and designed a new Learning Centre and Resource Hub for the school. The steeply sloping site was landscaped with a series of terraces were designed to provide new outdoor learning, whole school gathering, passive and active playspace.

Across the state, government schools are now operating from the BER template facilities. While we believe that the design of these templates was based on sound principles, a template can rarely adequately respond to varying site conditions, allow for orientation to support environmentally sustainable design or most importantly meet the particular needs of an individual community of learners.

Each school is different and we believe that each school will required a tailored response. Minx are proud to say that in 15 years of school design, every project that we have delivered has been in response to the needs of that school community, and not one is the same as the other.

The Global Financial Crisis and its aftermath, shone the spotlight on risk management.

In the field of Education Architecture risk management and mitigation has taken a number of forms.

A series of checklists have been introduced to ensure that our designs are safeTender documentation is now required to include budget risk strategies and contractors must demonstrate their risk management credentialsSpreadsheets have been formulated to ensure that all of the boxes are ticked.

Eight years on, it is hard to gauge the positive outcome of these efforts.

Education Architects are always conscious of the safety of the spaces they design. A checklist won't ensure safety and a spreadsheet cannot guarantee quality or cost control.

Tender pricing is not as competitive today as it once was due to the complexity of our documentation. The management of budget risk has, in effect, inflated pricing.

Probably the saddest outcome of this risk adverse environment can be seen in the playground. The swing and see-saw have disappeared, rocks are not allowed and trees cannot be climbed.

The thrill of the playground has disappeared for good and we now have a generation of risk adverse children as a result.

In an era where the entrepreneur is championed, is the removal of risk really serving our learners well? Would it be better practice to enable risk, by supporting the processes of engaging with it in a controlled learning environment?

This beautiful tree, having been carefully designed into the landscape as a feature in the new school design was identified as a risk during the construction phase of the project.

The mitigation strategy adopted by the planning committee; to audit, manage and monitor the tree was rejected by the Project Manager and it was instructed that the tree should be removed.

The result of risk management in this instance is disturbing. Has it really now reached the point that we can't retain and celebrate trees in our schools due to a perceived associated risk?

Surely some risks are worth taking?

The Department of Education took a risk in 2007, and engaged Minx to design a brand new primary school in Doreen, a rapidly growing suburb in Melbourne’s north.

This project signalled the need for both Jane and Jenny to return to full time work and for Minx to grow from a small to a medium sized practice.

The project was delivered on time, under budget and provided one of the Department of Education’s first working examples of flexible spaces with integrated information technology.

Working with leaders in emerging technologies, this school’s pedagogy was developed around Apple TV and iPad devices, at a time when interactive whiteboards were being installed in classrooms throughout the state. The flexibility allowed by mobile digital display screens and iPads has allowed this school to be an exemplary model for other schools to visit.

The collaboration between Minx and the Principal and Assistant Principal at Laurimar Primary school has continued with their move to Hazel Glen College – where the ideas that were introduced at Laurimar Primary have been developed and expanded.

Information Technology and digital communication has altered the way we teach and learn. Our challenge as education architects is to understand what facilities the educators and students of tomorrow will need to best support the school’s pedagogy.

The grade 4 boys at Nar Nar Goon were disengaged. Like any young bloke, what they needed was a good shed. Working with the school community, an inspired technology teacher and a tight budget, the Minx “girls” created a “boys shed”

There is much learning to be done in the shed, this popular facility teaches maths, design, engineering, science, technology, teamwork, communication and collaboration.

Increasingly our schools are looking to provide facilities that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths to encourage innovative and creative thinking amongst the students.

Minx has been involved in a number of these types of projects such as the Design Warehouse at Marian College, the STEAM Centre at Hazel Glen College and the STEM, Art and Resource Hub at Hampton Park Primary School. It seems that it is not just grade 4 boys that need a shed after all!

The boys shed may be unconventional, but it is a highly popular teaching space. It has ensured that the schools pedagogy can be delivered and that disconnected students can be re-engaged.

Delivering a school project is a collaborative exercise. In 2005 we were involved in a number of country school projects, where we came to understand the true value of community.

Macclesfield (above) and Gembrook Primary Schools, were two of these projects. Both had a long history of delivering education in the community and both had old school houses with sentimental value. Working closely with the students, staff and broader community we were able to retain and restore the school houses in an integrated design solution.

Our approach to Master Planning is always inclusive. We believe that it is essential that the school community are involved in the process to ensure that the end result is a school that responds to the particular needs of that community. A template design will never allow for a tailored solution, and we pride ourselves on the variety of work that we have produced.

Last we held a master planning workshop at St Martin de Porres Primary School in Laverton. We worked with the staff, community and students consulting them to find out what they wanted for their school’s future, so that we can include their ideas in our Master Plan. The image below is of Jenny discussing the planning process with the students, who are always genuinely were delighted that their input is considered let alone valued. .

We learnt very early on that our number one value with education design is to always listen to the most important voice - that of the student.

With two children in part-time childcare and first hand knowledge of the facilities required to provide for early learners, Minx embarked on a series of early learning centre projects. This era also provided many valuable lessons for us as architects and as directors of architectural practice still in the infant stages of development. Albert Park Pre-school, Clarke Street Children's’ Centre, Malvern Early Learning Centre, North St Kilda Childcare Centre and a number of projects for Peppercorn Childcare Centres, ironically gave us plenty to do when we weren’t looking after own own children.

Working in the education sector throughout our children’s schooling has enabled insight to the role that teaching facilities play in the community. Often the school is the focal point for the community and being a part of that community gives a designer a different perspective.

Involvement as volunteer in the classroom can gives an architect better understanding as to how teaching and learning spaces work. Too often designers have limited exposure to the workings of the spaces that they imagine.

Our children too have provided us with a terrific understanding of the needs of the learner - particularly during a time of rapid change with the infiltration of digital technology in the classroom. Even today, with our children now at the other end of the school system, their approach to learning, motivations and frustrations give us a better understanding as to how to provide better education spaces.

When we realise that Siri can do year 11 chemistry homework, we start to wonder what teaching will look like in the future and what sort of spaces we should be designing to allow for this rapid change.

So from early learners to lazy teens, our children have provided us with insight, understanding and perspective (and for the most part they have also given us a lot of joy) which has enabled us to continue to refine our skills as education space designers.

By the end of 2004 we had employed 4 staff to support the many projects we had in progress and generally our practice was running really well which we attribute to our insistence on ‘team work’ which, in our office means asking a colleague for help when you need it and helping a colleague in need when they ask for it. This is still the essence of the culture at Minx today and camaraderie has never been stronger.

In 2003 we were furiously working on design and construction solutions for various primary and secondary schools when Jane’s second child, Tess, was born. As Jane seemed, inexplicably, unable to get to the office at that time Jenny determined that the appropriate course of action was to bring numerous project files into the labour ward. It was a somewhat strange and slightly humorous experience with Jane sitting up in a hospital bed with a newborn on her chest and architectural plans on her lap. It certainly made both of us realise that being a mother definitely wasn’t a barrier to doing quality work or running our practice, which was really starting to buzz.

That year Jenny (parent to Harry, now 6) largely ran the office with the help of Seona, Chris and Giles. It was a jam packed year that relied on strong teamwork, which we have always been good at maintaining, so we got through unscathed.

2003 was also the year that computers first made their way into classroom spaces. The “computer pod” emerged as the “contemporary” solution to integrating information technology into the curriculum. It is amazing how quickly information technology has changed the way we think about teaching and learning spaces. We have now moved from the “pod” to anywhere, anytime access to technology. Spaces are planned to be flexible, technology wireless and student-learning centred. Only ten years ago, classrooms would be considered cutting edge if they had a couple of desktops in the corner. The computer pod was thought necessary to house these expensive and temperamental pieces of equipment. Now we have 1:1 devices, virtual classrooms, e-books and online homework forums.

It was sometime in our 3rd year that we realised how much we thrived on educational space design and that we wanted to become serious players in that arena. That was a bit of a turning point for Minx because it enabled us to build our practice around this one field of expertise, which has meant we have had to turn down some pretty appealing residential and commercial opportunities along the way, however 15 years on we very still glad we did.

The challenge for education space designers is to understand how information technology will change the spaces in which students learn in the future, we’re certainly fixed on being at the forefront of it this evolution for many years to come.

In 2002, with 3 kids under 5 between us, we realised working from home was no longer viable so we moved into the Public Office in West Melbourne. We put out the word amongst our peers and the Six Degrees team cleared us a spot and we moved in to share space with Techne.

The collaborative and collegiate working environment at the Public Office generated a new lease of energy for our work and made ‘Minx Architecture’ seem much more real and exciting. We especially loved the sense of community that the ‘in house lunches’ provided at the Public Office, so much so that we have continued with this convivial office culture at all our Minx office spaces ever since.

Since 2002, Minx have had a variety of homes - above the Red Eagle Hotel in Albert Park (it made knock off drinks everyday far too tempting), Bay Street in Port Melbourne, The Base in Fisherman’s Bend and now at our ‘forever office’ at The Cotton Mills in Footscray.

We have always believed strongly in supporting each other in the profession and enjoy sharing ideas with others in our field. Discussion, ideas exchange and sharing of experience makes us all better architects at the end of the day and that’s what we’re all striving for.

It’s been a pleasure watching our peers grow along with us, in particular, we celebrate the success of our original office buddies and all of our colleagues who have supported us along the way. Success is dependent on a collaborative approach throughout the process. The team members may change along the way, but as long as everyone remembers that there is no i in Team, the end result will be applauded.

Our involvement with A4LE(formerly CEFPI) – Australasian Learning Environments, has encouraged our thinking around the design of educational facilities. It has given us great opportunities to exchange ideas and we have been thrilled to have been recognised in recent years with the awards that this organisation presents. We are looking forward to attending the Learning Environments Australasia 16th Annual Conferencein Melbourne at the end of this month.

They say if a business can survive its first year, then it has a good chance of being viable. Fifteen years on, we are still here. We’ve moved around a bit along the way, from above dodgy pubs to leaky warehouses but today we’re loving our bright and spacious spot at the Cotton Mills and we are really looking forward to celebrating our 15 years in practice this September.

Celebrating 15 Years of Minx On September 13th this year we will have been designing educational spaces for 15 years (which is quite astounding to us) and to celebrate this milestone we have decided to do a ‘Minx Retrospective’, one year a week for 15 weeks. We’ll share our triumphs and our trip-ups, our lessons and our laughs and a few personal hysterics along the way. We hope you’ll stick with us for it.

Our First Year

We first toyed with the business name 'Jenny-Jane' but swiftly shunned it due to lack of lustre. Then we looked up the word woman in Roget’s Thesaurus and the word minx popped up:

mɪŋks/ an impudent, cunning, or boldly flirtatious girl or young woman.

There was certainly no lack of lustre with that word and we both quite liked the cheeky nature of it, considering we were two young women entering a generally conservative, mostly male, industry. So ‘Minx’ we became and that decision has somewhat confused people ever since. What we hadn’t taken into account was society’s enthusiasm for internet porn, which has possibly given some of our prospective clients a nasty surprise over the years, but it hasn’t seemed to deter them from working with us, so on we roll.

2001 - Our First Project & Our First Award

Mt Eliza Primary Schoolwas our first school project. Having both worked extensively as Project Architects in the school sector, the opportunity to work on our very own school project was an exciting one.

The project included the refurbishment of the whole school, new buildings to the street address and the on-site re-site of the old school house. The success of this project lead us towards a series of projects with the Department of Education, many involving old school houses, which have sentimental if not heritage value to many in the community.

This project was a finalist for the Best Primary School in the Victorian Government School Design Awards.

To date we have saved the old school houses on all of our projects, repurposing, re-siting and refurbishing them to create contemporary teaching and learning spaces.

Our strong relationship with the Department of Education continues to this day, and since our first project in 2001, we have successfully completed over 50 school projects ranging from tiny toilet upgrades to whole new school campuses for the Victorian Government. Our work has been recognised over the years through the School Design Awards and we intend for it to remain so.

Thanks to all those who cheered for us (and jeered at us) in our first year, you helped us remain focussed on succeeding which helped us make it to year two.

Welcome to the Minx Blog!

Minx are celebrating their 15th year in 2016, and to commemorate this occasion we have decided that it is time to start practicing what we preach.

We have been championing digital technology as an essential teaching and learning tool for decades now, so it is high time that we embraced this tool and engaged with the virtual world ourselves.

Stay tuned for weekly installments leading up to our 15th Birthday in September.