Image Credit : Peter Bennetts
Project Overview
Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School in Ballarat engaged k20 Architecture to take an aging infrastructure, comprised of tired classrooms and administration areas, and design and deliver a world-class, modern teaching space capable of accommodating both current and evolving pedagogies and a range of learning styles and group sizes.
Project Commissioner
Catholic Education of Ballarat
Project Creator
Team
Director of Sustainability- Anthony Uahwatanasakul
Project Architect- Joy Saikasem
Project Brief
Key to the brief was to design a space that was welcoming, exciting and stimulating to the senses. The limited budget required us to work creatively, to rationalise and draw on the opportunities within the existing environment to transform the spaces into engaging and interesting environments and to produce a great outcome for the students, staff and community.
An emphasis was placed on the change from 'one size fits all' approach to school facilities to design a tailored student-centred learning environment. Through close stakeholder consultation, our core design intent was to deliver harmonious spaces which can be adapted to suit various teaching styles including collaborative, individual and student break out rooms.
With this in mind, we repurposed the existing skeleton of the building and designed spaces organically around the central 'learning hub', where ceiling, flooring and rooms are curvilinear, and a central circulation pathway allows a natural flow through the various classrooms.
The glass coloured panels, textures and plywood timber used in the learning hub represent the school's history and connection with the community. The 'learning hub' becomes a focal point for student and staff interaction allowing everyone to be interconnected.
Project Innovation/Need
True innovation has been exhibited in the outcomes of this design. K20 Architecture has demonstrated how design can create a fresh new identity for a school and the wider community whilst still respecting the past. Through thought provoking stakeholder discussions, we uncovered a narrative which we subtly incorporated so the design is not only relevant in the present but also strengthens the community’s ties to the past and pays homage to the community history. We have successfully reimagined an aging and outdated school infrastructure unable to accommodate modern teaching practices, to create a welcoming, vibrant and visually stimulating student-centred space comprised of flexible and collaborative learning areas.
These flexible spaces can be adapted to meet a diverse range of learning needs and foster both independence and interdependence.
Overall, the outcome is a bright, happy and engaging environment where each student has the opportunity to develop and grow in a collaborative and supportive learning space.
Design Challenge
The major design challenge for this repurposing project was the existing building conditions due to its age and deterioration levels. The depth of the issues with the roofing, flooring and walls only became apparent once the interior was stripped back to a shell. This was overcome by upgrading and strengthening structural aspects of the building allowing us to proceed with the refurbishment.
Limited space within the existing shell was another challenge as it required us to design adaptive spaces to accommodate the program brief. The existing classrooms did not provide learning spaces suited to modern teaching methods hence why we adopted an open plan design to solve this issue.
Sustainability
Design is about opportunity. By choosing to work with the existing shell and repurpose the building this created less demolition waste than if we were to build an entirely new building. Sustainability principles were then adopted throughout the design by inheriting natural crossflow ventilation and increased daylighting to improve indoor environment quality, adaptive spaces for longevity, and responsible materials such as zero voc paint, carpet made from recycled content and reusing existing materials where possible.
Tags
Architecture - Public and Institutional
This award celebrates the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow.
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