Winner Best School Project Between $5 Million and $15 Million - 2024 Victorian School Design Awards

Beginning with a masterplan, the vibrant and diverse community of St Kilda Primary School now inhabit a new two-storey learning building on the prominent north-west corner site along Brighton Rd. The ‘Nozomi’ building (meaning ‘hope’, in acknowledgement of the school’s Japanese program) comprises sixteen open-plan learning areas that are split into 4 clusters across two levels to provide modern and flexible learning neighbourhoods to a school that was largely restricted to traditional classrooms.
Sited between the esteemed St Kilda Town Hall and the School’s own heritage-listed gothic-style ‘Main Block’, the learning building celebrates the heritage gable form of its existing buildings in the new north-south staggered extrusion.
A double-height east-facing covered deck bounded by a full-height green wall. This provides shade and contributes to the sustainability initiatives of the design and also protects the building and playful external stair and two storey slide from oval ball-sports. Further, additional green wall elements, protected outdoor learning areas and landscaping areas abound the building’s perimeter.

The second stage of the project involved careful renovation and refurbishment of the existing 1920’s heritage listed building which houses administration, staffrooms and art & music classrooms. With significant structural walls and columns, reconfiguration was limited to small interventions that allowed for better flow through the building and more practical use of large and small spaces.

Photography: Derek Swalwell