Tree preserved in college flyover design
Farrell Wray Architects received a unique brief for a new flyover at Marcellin College in Bulleen, Victoria, which included a non-negotiable stakeholder: an existing gum tree standing between two buildings. The architects designed the 91-square-metre flyover around the tree, ensuring its preservation.
The flyover connects the college’s senior learning building to its junior school wing, spanning an existing open-air walkway. The gum tree stands at the centre of the site, and the architects made it the focal point of the project. They presented an initial image of the tree circled with an ellipse, which became the project’s organising logic.
The Design Process
The architects drew inspiration from minimalist artists Ellsworth Kelly, Ted Stamm, and Robert Mangold. They aimed to create a rectilinear concrete container wrapped around an ellipsoid void, deliberately in tension with it. A cranked internal wall splits the plan into a central thoroughfare and a quieter reflective space.
A circular skylight tracks the sun and frames a sightline to the school chapel. The design had to accommodate the tree’s root system, with an arborist running a full root scan before construction started. The architects had to be flexible with the column locations, and the concrete slab was designed as a mass beam to avoid damaging the roots.
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References and Inspirations
The primary facade references the school’s namesake, St Marcellin Champagnat, with a nod to the hand-carved stone linkway at his Hermitage in France. The design features two deliberately unequal archways, chamfered edges, and a bladed GRC colonnade. These references are “abstracted and not initially obvious—revealing themselves through time and through story”.
This project is not Farrell Wray’s first flyover, as they previously designed one for the same principal at Caroline Chisholm College in Braybrook. The new flyover has already become a functional space, with the school’s art department using the art boxes to display student work. Students can sit on the long bench seat, reach out to touch the tree, and look up into its canopy.
Outcome and Impact
The gallery’s design has achieved the desired relationship between the students and the tree. The architects’ decision to preserve the tree has created a unique and interactive space. As the school’s art department continues to use the space, it is likely that the flyover will become an integral part of the college’s community, much like their previous project at Caroline Chisholm College.
