Rouse Hill Anglican College – Stage 7

Rouse Hill Anglican College is located in the North?West of Sydney. This project was the continuation of the school’s masterplan to relocate the Junior School to the Northern portion of the school site, separating the school into discernibly distinct Senior and Junior School areas. The original Junior School classroom module had been completed in 2007 and the overall authorities approvals from that time had also included a further classroom module and Junior School administration building. This set both the location and the overall external appearance of the new buildings in this stage of works which were to be completed some seven years later.

The teaching pedagogy has shifted to a more student?centred learning and the schools’ spatial needs had evolved subsequent to the original building design. Given the external appearance of the building was already defined, the approach was to interrogate where the interior spaces could be modified to provide greater flexibility, adaptability and connection between the spaces; in turn enabling a variety of spaces to allow for both small and large groups including the full student cohort to be housed in the building. In particular, providing quality shared spaces that could be utilised not only by the six classes inhabiting the building but also for all of the Learning Support and extra?curricular needs of the Junior School students and staff was emphasised.

What has resulted is an alternative interior world within the common building form. Inspiration was sought from the remnant bushland on the school site with the major features responding to the spatial and textural qualities of the bushland. The mezzanine design was a significant modification from the traditional classroom module design, transforming into a feature element which inhabits the middle of the central shared area and houses many of the feature elements. The inspiration was the idea of a cubby space inhabiting the bushland with a variety of textural and surface shifts.