Mumirimina people of the Oyster Bay nation
Tasmania
The Cambridge Primary School Redevelopment responds to the school’s strong culture of belonging, student agency, and its emphasis on physical activity, outdoor play, and engagement with surrounding bush. The design strengthens students’ connection to the broader landscape—mountains, valley, sky, and rivulet—linking learning spaces to nature.
The project includes new north-facing covered outdoor areas extending new and existing learning spaces, providing sheltered zones for eating, play, and outdoor learning. A new two-storey building delivers four flexible teaching spaces, while a kindergarten extension supports a third early years stream. The works include library relocation, expansion of the canteen to support the school’s healthy cooked lunch program, nature-based play areas, play equipment, and a connected path network.
Voluminous roof lights capture expansive sky views and soft south light, while tree-top decks offer elevated outlooks. Full-height glazed sliding doors enable seamless indoor–outdoor learning, with earth mounds forming playful, accessible landscape edges.
Commendation for Educational Architecture
The Cambridge Primary School Redevelopment skilfully resolves a complex and nuanced program through the integration of new and existing campus fabric. A highly cohesive response that celebrates the surrounding bushland through framed outlooks to treetops and sky, reinforcing the school’s pedagogical focus on outdoor learning, shared meals, and a strengthened connection to place and community.Â
Cambridge is an admirable project that delivers a cost-effective and tangible improvement to the campus, contributing to the ongoing uplift of school life and culture.Â
Commendation for Sustainable Architecture
The Cambridge Primary School redevelopment demonstrates how effective reorganisation of existing building fabric can offer a compelling act of stewardship rather than replacement, reinforcing connection to landscape as a foundation of the school ethos.Â
Locally sourced materials, including Tasmanian oak cabinetry, low-carbon concrete, reuse of existing timber linings, and engagement of local trades, reinforce a low-impact, place-responsive approach to sustainability.Â
The reimagined campus dissolves boundaries between indoors and landscape, expressing a regenerative ethic of care for place and the generations that follow.
Commendation for Educational Architecture
The Cambridge Primary School Redevelopment skilfully resolves a complex and nuanced program through the integration of new and existing campus fabric. A highly cohesive response that celebrates the surrounding bushland through framed outlooks to treetops and sky, reinforcing the school’s pedagogical focus on outdoor learning, shared meals, and a strengthened connection to place and community.Â
Cambridge is an admirable project that delivers a cost-effective and tangible improvement to the campus, contributing to the ongoing uplift of school life and culture.Â
Commendation for Sustainable Architecture
The Cambridge Primary School redevelopment demonstrates how effective reorganisation of existing building fabric can offer a compelling act of stewardship rather than replacement, reinforcing connection to landscape as a foundation of the school ethos.Â
Locally sourced materials, including Tasmanian oak cabinetry, low-carbon concrete, reuse of existing timber linings, and engagement of local trades, reinforce a low-impact, place-responsive approach to sustainability.Â
The reimagined campus dissolves boundaries between indoors and landscape, expressing a regenerative ethic of care for place and the generations that follow.
This project delivered a critical upgrade that addressed immediate capacity pressures and enhanced the school’s learning environment. The works introduced a new general learning hub comprising four contemporary GLAs, an expanded kindergarten learning area, upgraded canteen, improved circulation, and revitalised outdoor spaces and playground areas. Internal reconfiguration provided a relocated library, enlarged staff room, new offices, professional support spaces, sensory rooms, and breakout areas. This project creates flexible, modern learning settings that strengthen student wellbeing and functionality while laying the foundation for future community integrated development environments and unifying school and civic functions within a growing precinct.
Sophie Bence, Project Architect
Hannah Webber, Project Architect
Shamus Mulcahy, Design Architect
Bek Verrier, Design Architect
Mike Renshaw, Architectural Technician
Emily Hunt, Graduate of Architecture
Keven Bennett, Construction Manager
Greg Millhouse, Foreman
Lincy Francis Cardoz, Contract Administrator
Verto, Hydraulic Consultant
Playstreet, Landscape Consultant
Lee Tyers Building Surveyors, Building Surveyor
RED Sustainability Consultants, ESD Consultant
Aldanmark Consulting Engineers, Structural Engineer
COVA, Electrical Consultant