Gladstone SHS - Year 7 Block

The design creates a new junior precinct for the School Complex engaging with the local community through its built form and presence on the hill. The courtyard is the pivot of the complex, giving the precinct legibility of entrance. Located on the edge of school grounds adjacent to a steeply sloping landscaped bank and one and two level buildings, the new building drew materiality from its neighbours.

Spaces are zoned for activities to capture the sense of external space, protection, containment and interaction. This is a large and functional building designed for comfortable efficient movement, protection from the external environment and effective teaching.

The building's substantial presence elevates it from its surrounding context whilst still fitting in with the existing fabric of buildings on site. The elements of shelter, circulation, connection and privacy informed the design program. Inside spaces flow through a series of rooms with flexible connectivity and common open spaces located at junction points. Spaces for children and the integration of playfulness provided a contracting agenda against a hard pragmatic public school environment with associated constraints.

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