We first facilitated a comprehensive masterplan that envisages seven stages of development across ten years and two separated campuses - Yirramboi (Keilor) and Canowindra (Taylors Lakes). The Stage 1 project emerging from the masterplan consolidates two middle schools into one at the Keilor campus and two junior schools into one at the Taylors Lakes campus. Law Architects have completed both of the first two of these major undertakings.

The intensive review of the campuses culminated in a masterplanning strategy entailing a range of undertakings - including the construction of new buildings and judicious conversion or removal of select existing buildings; new landscape works and vehicular/ carparking interventions - staged over the next decade and beyond.

The staging of these has methodically taken into account the college’s most pressing needs with respect to curriculum, including difficulties arising from the Keilor site’s very steep topography, the practicalities of construction sequencing, and balancing the college’s forecast (and finite) finances, to ensure the proposed masterplan is a realistic and responsible plan for the future.

Crucially this wide-ranging extent of the masterplan has enabled the College to promote the most immediate of these works as part of a deeply considered strategy which seeks to successfully address shortcomings and achieve a genuinely connected and high-functioning campus.

At Yirramboi, for Yrs 5-8, this has involved a new Learning Hub building and refurbishment of the existing middle school buildings to accommodate 390 students and associated services including a canteen and activated landscape areas. The program and siting of this building seeks to consolidate a relatively isolated fringe of the campus into a ‘middle college’ precinct in its own right, whilst also enabling future connections further down the steep site to currently undeveloped areas. Enabling works required to complete the project included first the refurbishment of the middle school buildings and removal/relocation of portables to enable both temporary accommodation and the completion of the works.

Canowindra now has a new single storey building to accommodate 432 students in Years Prep, 1 & 2, mindful of integration with a planned refurbishment of the existing middle school building to accommodate 288 students in Years 3 & 4.

Photography: Peter Clarke Photography