Meeting the needs of a growing community on a tight, inner-suburban site while providing increased access to green space and outdoor play is always a challenge. Yet this is exactly what has been achieved in this exciting transformation of Rosary
School’s main campus.
 

A desire to maximise open space for students and visual connections to greenery lead to the decision to locate a new two-to-three storey learning building on the southern boundary of the school campus. In doing so, a new courtyard is created in
the centre of the school, serving as a focus for school learning and play. New challenge and nature play areas provide a diversity of play options for students, while the original school hall is reinterpreted as a place for gathering and celebration of Rosary School’s 114-year history. Learning areas in the new building are generous in size and provide the flexibility to teach collaboratively and spill out into covered outdoor learning areas.

 

The design of the new teaching and learning building is driven by a balance between paying respect to the surrounding residential context and maintaining the civic presence of a school building. On the street side of the building, variations in façade offsets, street setback and roof forms contribute to breaking down the scale of the building, while the selection of materials and scale and rhythm of ground-level openings reference the nearby houses. On the courtyard side, generous balconies open to northern sunlight connect to the newly-formed courtyard and provide opportunities for outdoor learning at all levels. Standing proud at the centre of the campus, an external lift well draws views upwards, inviting contemplation and reflection in the Dominican tradition.

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Watch the Lift Tower Construction Time-lapse Video Here:

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