Bates Smart ™

Rural Clinical School
The University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria

The Goulburn Valley Rural Clinical School provides a new library and clinical skills laboratory, including patient simulator, on the Goulburn Valley Health Shepparton Campus.

In addition, the existing Specialist Consulting Suites have been redeveloped to increase capacity and accommodation for student teaching and consulting.

The Rural School of Health forms part of an education precinct on the site, and addresses DHS, Commonwealth and The University of Melbourne initiatives to integrate rural services into the teaching process. The buildings are modular in design to allow future expansion northwards. The façade treatment of the two new buildings creates a distinguishable identity, separate from the existing clinical buildings.

ESD features of the Rural School of Health buildings include passive and active solar design, with clerestory stack effect and natural ventilation integrated into the building management system. Our holistic approach also included materials selection such as linoleum and eco-ply to minimise off gassing and energy and water efficient appliance and fixture selections. Indigenous and drought tolerant plant selections were part of the landscaping strategy to further reduce reliance on water.