‘New Schools Bundle A 2022’ is a collaboration between Law Architects and Thomson Adsett to design 5 new primary schools in the outer northwest growth corridor suburbs of Wollert, Melton, Kalkallo, Gisbourne and Deanside.

For 3 of these primary schools, an early learning centre or community hub was also provided in partnership with the local Council.

Masterplanning commenced in August 2019 and the schools were delivered for the commencement of the school year in 2022.

The buildings were designed as template facilities for maximum efficiency and project delivery. This required informed and visionary decision making at the very early stages of masterplanning with a wholistic appreciation of the constraints of the differing constraints and possible future unknowns.

These new schools were developed without a staff cohort but with an experienced team, expert in learning settings and a deep understanding of pedagogy. The planning of each building was driven from the inside out, with a building envelope flexible enough for multiple adaptations, including inclusive school space allocations

The buildings were conceived to allow for flexible orientation yet maintain best practice thermal performance and daylighting for varying sites. A suite of building techniques and details were developed to aid in the speed and ease of construction without compromising the spatial & design quality of each facility.

Central to the design of the built environment was the project team’s collective desire to engage the landscape at every moment. So often new schools become a sea of concrete and asphalt and this was deliberately avoided for this project by locating garden beds strategically close to the buildings such that every window looking out has direct visual (and often physical) access to the green-scape outside.

The efficiency of the project design & detailing enabled full inclusion of tender options which included maximum solar PV capacity across all building roofs, density and mature sizes of plantings, full joinery & furniture fit-out and fully developed external play spaces.

The project was delivered on time and on budget in January 2022.

Photography: Chris Matterson Photography