Concord School is a Victorian government Prep-Year 12 specialist school for students with additional learning needs, with a junior primary campus located in Watsonia, and the rest of the school located in Bundoora. This project is based at their Bundoora campus, where the original buildings were established in the 1970s.

It sees the partial demolition of dated, worn stock and removal of some relocatable buildings, to be replaced with a contemporary, 2-storey Middle & Senior Learning Building, and opening the centre of the campus to create an active, secure play space, that forms the “heart” of the campus.

Law Architects previously delivered a new Food Technology/Canteen/learning facility at the school in 2019 and were further engaged to continue their collaborative working relationship with the school through a masterplan for modernisation in 2021, followed by the design & delivery of this new Middle/Senior Learning Building.

The new facility took its cues from the Food Technology/Canteen Building, sharing in its exterior materials palette while remaining distinct in its design. It contains modern, comfortable and flexible learning environments, supported with breakout and withdrawal spaces – improved visual and physical connections between learning spaces. The interior materials palette provides a tangible sense of calm upon entering the building, as well as two different colour schemes providing a sense of unique identity to each floor.

The new facility delivers energy efficiency and therefore ongoing cost savings, improved security, inclusivity and amenity in the campus heart, better passive surveillance throughout, improved connections to outdoor learning environments, and enhanced connectivity across the campus. Law Architects designed to avoid overshadowing of neighbouring buildings, incorporate passive solar features, and reduce the “heat island” effect with integrated landscaping and planting that will grow up to shield the building from the western sun.