Whitsunday Anglican School STEAM Centre | BSPN Architecture

Whitsunday Anglican School has undertaken a visionary journey with its development of the STEAM Centre, epitomizing a dedication to educational excellence and community connectivity.

With a design philosophy of enhancement, innovation and legacy, the Centre fosters creativity, collaboration, and enterprise among students while forging tangible links with regional industries.

It serves as a dynamic educational hub for students, staff, and the wider community, enriching learning experiences and fostering partnerships with local businesses.

Seamlessly integrated into the existing campus, the Centre embodies a thoughtful approach to urban campus school design, blurring boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.

Housing cutting-edge laboratories, versatile maker spaces, and a contemporary library, every aspect is meticulously crafted to meet the evolving needs of students and educators.

The STEAM Centre represents a transformative vision for regional education, it is a place where minds are engaged and inspired, where students are encouraged to seek and achieve.

Wangaratta District Specialist School | Sibling Architecture

Wangaratta District Specialist School caters to students who have clinically diagnosed physical and intellectual disabilities. The new building provides spaces for students to develop skills that encourage independent living. Sensory design devices are employed including colour, tactility, and atmosphere. Such devices are an integral part of the pedagogical experience. These are manifested in several sensory considered spaces, spaces for quiet, spaces for wonder and spaces for respite. Classrooms are designed with intimate learning in mind, with each classroom having its own breakout space and outdoor zone. Colour is used throughout the design to create identity and familiarity for students. With each function of the school assigned a unique identity. The school provides students with space to build skills that encourage independent living, beyond the school years.

TL Robertson Library Refurbishment | Hames Sharley and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects in Association

Originally constructed in 1972, the brutalist TL Robertson Library is Curtin University’s largest and most historic building. Its refurbishment sought to redefine the purpose of the campus library, shifting away from preserving books towards prioritising social connection and a sense of community.

The library’s collection of books was consolidated and relocated to a high-density compactus system, freeing up space to accommodate a spectrum of learning settings; from social learning on the lower floors to silent study areas on the upper floors. The relocation of services enabled the addition of a new seventh level, with an event space that allows the library to host functions with up to 200 guests.

The previously enclosed building has been redefined to enhance its permeability and accessibility, with more legible entries, open floor plates and light-filled spaces, positioning the library as a beacon at the heart of the campus.

Stradbroke Primary School – Early Learning Hub | Das Studio

Located adjacent Morialta Conservation Park in Rostrevor, Stradbroke Primary School incorporates Walker Learning principles to offer an inquiry-based, transdisciplinary, student-centred curriculum. The project brief sought to replace an aged building with learning spaces and nature play for Stradbroke’s Reception students, to align facilities with the forward-thinking pedagogical approach of the School.

Prioritisation of the direct learning outcomes of built form result in a building that acts as a beacon for the possibilities of curiosity, inquiry and play whilst simultaneously connecting to the surrounding built and natural environments in a manner that feels of its place. Siting, planning and materiality all contribute equally to this outcome.

A collaborative relationship between the design team, client and key stakeholders and a creative approach to project problem solving unlocked value that allowed for refurbishment works to adjacent Year 1 spaces, creating an Early Learning Hub for the School that equitably connects the junior cohort.

St Peter’s College Big Quad Rejuvenation | Matthews Architects

Learning is always a process of change, and when we are young it is a process of growing and growing up. This new era of the Big Quad precinct has been shaped to support young people who are going through such changes. The design embraces them within a history and a present that they are a living part of, reminding them that there are futures to be valued and stories to be written. Each space captures the movement of light throughout the day and across seasons, the shifting of the living environment around them and celebrates the passage of time. In this way the design celebrates the continuity of human experience and the valuable connection between past, present and futures.

St Patrick’s Primary School Lochinvar | SHAC

They say clover ignites soil, it converts nitrogen from the air and deposits rich nutrients back into the ground for healthy growth.

St Patrick’s Primary School at Lochinvar is a literal manifestation of the three leaf clover. This pedagogical pattern won SHAC the Blacket Award for Stage One back in 2018. Now three stages, and five years, later the Masterplan has come to fruition, the school is complete a cluster of learning leaves sprinkled on a country meadow, fit for country kids and clever teachers.

This project is an exemplary masterplanning and architectural solution to meet the needs of a growing school community, its staff, and its students, who started the project with a legacy of outdated and unsuitable school buildings. The design accomplishes much with little. Modesty scaled buildings are clustered to form a new school address and heart, creating the armature for new methods of teaching and learning.

St Patrick’s College Performing Arts Centre | Wardle

St Patrick’s College Performing Arts Centre represents a once–in–a–generation transformation project for the school. The centrepiece is an 800–seat auditorium with retractable seating can host a range of events – from school assemblies, music/drama performances to community events. In addition, the black box rehearsal studio is a flexible space with the opportunity for practice or small–scale drama performances. A series of rehearsal studios and purpose–built areas for performing arts and staff spaces support the main space.

Set within an historic 120–year–old campus in Ballarat, the surrounding significant heritage buildings have been carefully considered in the architectural design. Located adjacent to the formal gardens, the building complements the primary frontage and assists in the development of a new campus forecourt and entry. The design response is contemporary but integrated with the campus context through careful consideration of scale, rhythm and materiality.

St John’s Campus Redevelopment | Brown Falconer

The redevelopment of Concordia’s St John’s Campus has transformed the primary school through new learning environments that bring the College together, reimagine the campus and provide the foundation for improved teaching and learning practices.

This project presented a significant opportunity to co-create a unified precinct with College leadership, utilising a collaborative visioning process to generate design principles founded on 4 core ideas:
_One College
_Every space is a place to learn
_The physical environment supports the learning process
_Connection to Nature

Briefed to provide new facilities to support strategic growth across years 4-6, expand the ELC, and improve connectivity between classrooms and the outdoors, we explored this and their existing facilities through their educational philosophy and developed a masterplan with upgraded junior primary learning areas, new ELC, upper primary learning building, resource centre and activity hall with a design narrative that celebrates nature through form, materiality, colour and maximising greenspace.

Springbank Secondary College | Thomson Rossi

The challenge at Springbank Secondary College was to create an environment with no barriers to learning for a culturally, physically, and neurodiverse community without the slightest perception of discrimination. The new environment needed to be beautiful, practical, serviceable, elegant and welcoming, as well as catering for unique needs in a discrete way, allowing everyone to enjoy a contemporary, state of the art learning facility that delivers a high-end curriculum.
Internally, in order to achieve these spaces, the design explored the integration of circulation space into the Learning Areas, eliminating corridors and allowing a range of different breakout and retreat spaces to be created; providing significant flexibility and opportunity for inclusion across the whole campus.
Externally, a sculptural COLA announces the school’s presence as a promenade leading to the Basketball Stadium, strategically located adjacent the Tower Arts Centre, allowing an extension of performance activities to an outdoor venue.

North Melbourne Primary School (Molesworth Street Campus) | ARM Architecture

The North Melbourne Primary School Molesworth Street Campus is a new $55–million vertical school for 525 students, with a 66–child kindergarten on the top level. It contains 21 classrooms, specialist learning spaces, a library, gymnasium, and a unique music/performing arts hub. Positioned as a benchmark project for future vertical schools in Victoria and interstate, its design responds to complex site challenges, ensuring accessibility and functionality. Collaborative efforts with specialists, lessons learned from various primary schools, and ongoing client engagement underline the project’s holistic approach. The school’s cultural significance extends beyond academia, encouraging community integration through a well–conceived social organisation model. With significant sustainability considerations and a commitment to 21st century learning, North Melbourne Primary School Molesworth Street Campus sets a new standard for educational spaces.