Frank Burridge Regenerative Architectureal Environemnts






Woodleigh Year 10 Regenerative Futures Studio, with  McIldowie Partners and Joost Bakker



To thrive in this rapidly changing world of AI, pandemics, climate instability and species extinction, students need more than knowledge - they need the skills to adapt and lead change that promotes regeneration, renewal and growth in their community.

When 39% of global emissions come from buildings & construction, 30% of all construction materials are wasted, and every new building displaces potential wildlife habitat, our collaborator Joost Bakker provoked: why build a school when we could build an ecosystem?

The Woodleigh Year 10 Regenerative Futures Studio is carbon net-zero over a cradle-to-cradle lifecycle. We wanted to demonstrate this was achievable on a reasonable budget  — but to go beyond net-zero to show students what a regenerative future might look like with a productive, living building that grows rooftop habitat for endangered native pollinators, sequesters carbon-dioxide, filters pollutants, provides its own energy and  creates a dynamic project-based learning environment . 

Architect: McIldowie Partners in association with Joost Bakker
Frank Burridge as Project Architect

Engineering: TGA Engineers & BRT    

Built: South-East Building Services (SEBS)    

Landscape: Sam Cox Landscape    

Solar & Battery System: Off-Grid Solutions    

Photography: Earl Carter    


























The green roof creates a protected habitat zone that fosters the lifecycles of native butterflies, bees and birds. The school had tried to plant these in the adjacent Brian Henderson Wildlife Reserve, but the plants were eaten by rabbits. The building is a functional extension of the adjacent reserve, providing functional ecosystem services that were not possible without the building because the rooftop cannot be accessed by rabbits. 

Plantings include the native yam daisy and kangaroo grass, important food and cultural plants for local Boon Wurrung First Nations peoples. The plantings are selected by Sam Cox Landscape to provide year-round flowers for butterfly nectar and bee pollen, and were purchased from local indigenous-owned business Willum Warrain. 













   
 The green roof holds 50mm of water in the base, making water always available for plants to access using capillary action. Inspired by Australian inventor Colin Austin’s wicking bed system, this design drastically reduces ongoing watering requirements while creating a drought-resilient ecosystem and protecting the building from radiant heat and embers in a bushfire situation. 










The world’s first 100% Australian grown hemp kitchen. The hemp was planted in November 2023, harvested 3 months later and pressed into panels in Pakenham, VIC. 

The kitchen-homestead area is shared between students and staff, creating a communal atmosphere that encourages warm, homely interactions, building a sense of belonging and community. This space includes design features that create the feel of a contemporary workplace: a large shared co-working table and banquette seating. This extends the idea of the homestead and reflects the journey of Year 10 students who are beginning to think about their career pathways and life beyond school. 



























Individual classrooms in the building are monitored on individual sub-circuits with real-time energy use metrics feeding into displays in each room, creating opportunities for learning and live behaviour adjustment to enhance efficiency. The battery storage and inverter system is accessible from the courtyard via louvred swing doors, creating an opportunity for interactive learning. 
Every year Australia sends a Sydney Harbour Bridge full of furniture to landfill. This is why all of the chairs in the project are refurbished second-hand. The desks are made from hemp, with a plant-based bio-resin epoxy finish. 

























The pergola timbers were salvaged from the St Kilda Pier Wharf redevelopment by Peninsula Recycled Timbers. 








Sliding hemp panels partition each room in half. Combined with large glazed sliding doors, this gives the capability to reconfigure the learning spaces for the end-of-year exhibition. 






Strawboard panel locks up over 91,000kg CO2e, is completely non-toxic and VOC free, compostable at end-of-life (and compostable offcuts) and creates solid, silent spaces of presence. 


All glazing unit framing is made with low emissions Alspec Ultra Greencore aluminium, using a high percentage of recycled aluminium to massively reduce the carbon emissions embodied in these elements at just 4kgCO2e/kg of aluminium, a quarter of the standard of around 16kgCO2e/kg of aluminium. 

Boral Envirocrete Plus was used for a lower embodied carbon concrete slab. 









A solar pergola provides energy, a shaded outdoor classroom and an object lesson in agrivoltaics. 

At tender the contractor allowed for 30 skip bin pickups over the 9-month program (they would normally allow for around 90 on a project of this size). Only 8 were picked up with an average 95% recycling recovery rate, making the construction system nearly zero-waste.










2025

FRANK@MAIN-STUDIO.COM