Located on the upper three floors of the historical Harlin House Building. Brisbane Grammar School’s new senior boarding residence develops on the innovative design approach used in the junior facility to create modern, individual/private rooms for 79 boys in years 9 to 12.

The design pays respect to the historical nature & constraints of the existing building, whilst creating contemporary compact private spaces for each boarder, individual supervisor rooms, and social spaces for them to connect. Each detail of the modular room design, and facility comes together to create a unique and homely feel for the students to live.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The Learning Hub and Administration is a place making building, representing a new centrepiece for LORDS students, staff and community. The facilities represent the educational desire for quality learning and work spaces for both students and staff.

The Master Planning process highlighted the need for a new Administration space and Learning Hub. Meeting rooms, office spaces, flexible hot desks, welcoming reception and waiting areas on the ground floor represent a significant change from the demountable building LORDS had outgrown. The all age group Learning Hub on the first floor takes advantage of the north facing outlook over the eucalyptus forest. Students and staff are visually connected to the eucalyptus canopies from the moment you enter the Learning Hub. The flexible learning lounge acts the centre piece on the first floor and is break out space for makers spaces, flexible classrooms and focused learning spaces. The flexible learning lounge provides a space for traditional library resources, group reflection and individual study. Separating junior students from senior students through deliberate furniture selections whilst maintaining visual connection to the tree canopies outside.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The Senior Learning Precinct was identified as a pivotal building within the Colleges Master Plan, endeavouring to create diverse learning spaces valuing the ideas of interaction, connectivity and movement. These engrained values coupled with malleable information delivery technologies and spaces, are opportunistic for flexible teaching typologies and pedagogies to mature seamlessly creating effective and memorable learning experiences for the inhabitants.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The adaptation of the J-Block from an outdated educational building to a versatile, flexible and transferable space has been designed to grow with today’s and tomorrow education pedagogies. Connectivity, flexibility and function play key roles in the design vision, which enhances the opportunity for seeing beyond an internal space as a classroom. Instead creating opportunity for external areas to become a versatile extension of the learning program and breakout space.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The Middle School Building at Trinity Lutheran College has been re-invented and re-imagined into a thriving precinct that reflects the needs of teachers and students in modern learning practices. An existing rigid structural floor plate limited the ability to remove internal walls completely. Instead, the design response focussed on creating enhanced connectivity internally and externally. The spaces provide a variety of learning programs accommodating varied needs. The interiors focus on the identity of space which breaks down the original repetitive nature of the floor plates.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

Located on the upper floor of the Historical SW Griffith Building. Brisbane Grammar School’s new Junior Boarding Residences employs an innovative design approach, that delivers a modern and homely environment, whilst maintaining the historical significance of the building. Modular home pods have been designed to create a sense of ownership and privacy for the individual residents, with attention to detail in the design process being paramount to enhancing a sense of community and ensuring the integrity of the historic building remained.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

This multi-functional contemporary project focuses on the ever evolving strategies and practices used in developing learning and teaching pedagogy’s. The building is designed to enhance and engage with the social and mental well-being of students and educators in order to provide positive and healthy spaces for those within and around the building.

The development encompasses a quarter of the existing campus, with new internal road ways and carparking, addressing congestion and access to the campus. The three storey building contains a new Early Learning Centre, After Hours Care Centre, Café and covered outdoor areas on the ground floor.

Multi-functional and technologically enhanced lecture theatre, flexible learning core, G.L.A’s with live recording capabilities, film studio and outdoor learning on the first floor. Junior resources, academic research facilities connected to live recording spaces, collaborative staff recourses, development spaces and quiet oratory spaces for both students and educators. All visually connected to the ground floor through a central light filled void looking into the rainforest designed gardens.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The Horton Building continues to prosper some 26 years post it’s last major extension and renovation. Originally thought to be designed in the early 1980s (architect unknown) and later refurbished and extended in 1991 by Burling Brown Architects. St Hilda’s Schools outdated and tired Horton Library has been transformed into a first class Arts building and Middle School Administration.

Existing architectural drawings proved successful in understanding the existing buildings structural nature and program. These drawings allowed the design approach to be orientated around the subtraction of existing elements in order to establish a new program creating order around new design principles.

What has resulted is the re-birth of an outdated building that had lost its place on campus.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

Saint Stephen’s College Science Centre challenges the traditional delivery methodology of science education.

As a departure from the long-established ‘Laboratory’ style facility, the intent was to create a space that would inspire students to explore the world of science through discovery, enquiry and self-guided education.

Working within an established framework, the facility reinvents and extends an existing built envelope, transforming six traditional classrooms into flexible, dynamic learning spaces. The new portion of the building contains a theatre-style demonstration laboratory, research lounge and additional classrooms all linked by a ‘collaboration spine’. These spaces motivate students to engage in self-guided learning by facilitating live experiments and open discussion forums.

Saint Stephen’s College, has for a long time, been at the forefront of innovation, technology and 21st century learning. The recent addition of the Centre of Music Excellence is a further testament to the College’s commitment in providing unconventional, high quality educational spaces.

The Centre comprises a 220-seat state-of-the art recital hall, rehearsal studios, specialised instrumental teaching spaces, percussion studio and flexible learning areas. The high quality acoustics and attention to detail ensures that the spaces provide the absolute best quality music facilities to more than 350 students across the campus as well as the wider community.

Architecturally, the Music Centre stands as a dynamic and bold gesture reflecting the College’s progressive attitudes towards education whilst being sympathetic to the current vernacular through use of familiar materials and finishes. The Centre of Music Excellence sets a new standard in Music and Performing Arts spaces within Schools and in the wider community.

Burling Brown Architects with St Hilda’s School have successfully transformed an existing three storey 1980’s brick classroom building into a dynamic, innovative example of modern educational architecture.

The project successfully integrates and enhances the existing campus fabric while delivering adaptable flexible learning spaces that challenge traditional teaching pedagogy.
The ground floor originally comprising classrooms and hospitality teaching facilities has been transformed into a generous refectory space opening out to surrounding ovals, bushland and central school court. This school refectory, with coffee shop, stage and DJ facilities can cater for up to 500 people. This facility has now become an important community space and a central gathering point for social activities on the campus.

The upper floors include library and collaborative learning areas, sound recording and video production studios, student services area, interview and conference rooms with 14 GLA spaces contained within the refurbished building. Each of the GLA’s have fold back acoustically treated clear glass doors allowing spaces to be modified and adapted to achieve the desired teaching and interactive learning configurations.

Nestled amongst the melaleuca trees and grassy bank at St Hilda’s School, rests the Junior STEAM Building. A project aiming to invoke the imagination of young women through architectural dialogue focused on encouraging students to pursue interests in a blend of sciences, technologies, engineering, arts and mathematics.

From the outset, the School valued the existing flora onsite and thus the design response was to respect and maintain majority of the existing trees, whilst efficiently program an educational building to suit the site. The melaleuca trees
were used to shape the buildings elevation and footprint.

The external finishes takes on a minimalist approach, through the use of raw fibre cement panels, steel and glass. The raw finishes were inspired from the rawness of the bark on the melaleuca trees.

Photography: Murray Rix – RixRyan Photography

The college’s modern approach to education requires the use of a modern design methodology.

The 21st Century Learning Centre at Sheldon College has been designed to promote excellence in the senior student community. The building will house specialist facilities such as recording / editing studios, lecture theatre and trade studios.

This centre will enhance the learning experience through flexible architecture that supports modern learning practices.

Completed in early 2016, the new Administration Centre is a bold departure from traditional school administration fit-outs.

The brief was for an overarching contemporary look and feel both inside and out whilst projecting a professionally corporate presence.

Externally at street frontage, the building displays a fresh façade of contemporary lines with extensive use of sun louvres and Colorbond cladding making for an impressionably modern entry statement to the existing college.

Internally, the fit-out showcases green feature walls with display cases, honed concrete finishes to stairwells and contemporary carpeting and furnishings completing this functionally engaging space.

The building now comfortably accommodates the departments of the Headmaster, School Council, Admissions and Enrolments as well as the school reception, meeting rooms and other facilities.

With the advent of the internet and high speed communication, learning a language in schools has become an interactive process that in some instances results in students from different countries teaching each other.

The Senior Technology Building at Saint Stephen’s College on the Gold Coast has dismissed the principles of a traditional eight by eight classroom and reinvented the learning space to create a multitude of compact, interactive, fun and collaborative spaces, each with distinct learning functions.

The spaces not only challenge the way we traditionally learn other languages and consume information, but also the way we teach and present material.

From the outset, the College wanted a building that spearheaded a new image that reflects their versatile, innovative learning programs.

It did however, need to complement existing architecture – not disengage from it. To align the building with its surrounding context, the contemporary use of the existing material palette flows seamlessly with the introduced sharp angles and bright colours.

The freeform design approach emulates a courtyard like typology, where the external space acts as a spill-out of the internal spaces bringing light, colour, volume and enjoyment to the learning areas within. This central breakout area cleverly connects all spaces into one dynamic, versatile, child-specific zone.

The interiors emulate the children’s picture book by Eric Carl, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, with each classroom colour depicting a food eaten by the caterpillar. Porthole ‘caterpillar bite’ windows visually connect teaching areas, adding to the overall experience of joyful learning.

The POD delivers a high-quality experience to accommodate aspirations for learning, discovery and engagement.

In a changing world driven by innovation, it is important for Coomera Anglican College to continue with a growth mindset in order to challenge learning processes for the benefit of the College community.

As the new entry statement for the Junior School, The POD remains true to the distinct and unique architectural aesthetic of the existing campus, while utilising contemporary and progressive architectural principles, construction methods and materials to promote and enhance educational facilities for the benefit of the students, staff and community.

Focused around a central hearth learning environment, a diverse range of spaces individual and collaborative, internal and external branch out to support and accommodate inquisitive young minds. While there is an emphasis on light, transparency and connection, students still have opportunities to retreat into seclusion to read or escape to the deepest parts of the galaxy within the immersive 360-degree video projected amphitheatre.

The Caloundra City Private School Multimedia Centre is a significant building in the evolution of the campus’ facilities and sense of community and identity.

Constructed as part of the BER funding program, the building fulfills the schools need for a traditional library and then extends the typology to address the needs of students and teachers in the 21st Century. Group Learning Area, Technology Rooms, Junior Reading Hubs and an IT Hub are all contained in the building which has also become a focal point of the students social interaction.

Housing all these needs in one building proved challenging. By employing clever use of technology, movable storage shelving as privacy screen, operable walls to close and extend spaces and varying floor levels, the uses of the building are clearly defined, creating a synergy of spaces.

The All Saints Anglican School Theatre – called the Nairn Theatre in recognition of the school’s founding Headmaster

It is the central facility for teaching, rehearsing and performance of the school’s Music and Speech and Drama Departments.
The building’s requirements were formulated through research of typical models of local and interstate Tertiary and Secondary facilities, with a particular emphasis on current and perceived teaching and production needs relative to All Saints philosophies and pedagogies for the Music and Speech and Drama curriculum.

The building therefore focuses on theatre with the integration of facilities, amenities, services and decorations to achieve an optimum theatrical ambience for teachers, students and the school community.

All Saints Anglican School has a history dating back over twenty-eight years. The Chapel provides the final piece to the original master plan of the campus.

Delicately nestled in the heart of the school, The Chapel sits within its context overlooking the immaculate fields, wetlands and the distant Gold Coast skyline.

Inside, the large raked timber ceiling and extensive natural materials provide an overwhelming yet intimate space. Symmetry, proportion and expressiveness of the building’s beautiful structure is reminiscent of ancient religious buildings.

The All Saints Chapel is a multi-adaptive place of worship and a space for children to learn in the presence of God.

The rapid advancement in technology and access to digital content has posed a major shift in how we conceive libraries and resource spaces within our schools.

With high speed Internet and wireless devices, the traditional limitations of accessing information have become something of the past. Today’s challenge lies within managing and delivering relevant information and digital content.

The iCentre at Saint Stephen’s College is located within the heart of the campus and offers a mixture of existing and new building works. The centre provides a delicate balance between traditional library values and modern digital rich environments.
With its large, naturally lit volumes, high quality finishes and technology rich spaces, the iCentre provides a stimulating and collaborative environment for the Saint Stephen’s community