Nudgee Junior College

The street frontage of the new building is wrapped in brick to reflect the original features of the existing school buildings. Rich red brick with a lustrous blue/grey brick banding is used for the two main wings of the new building.

Project Details

Architects
Fulton Trotter Architects

Address
Twigg Street, Indooroopilly QLD 4068

Submitter
Fulton Trotter Architects

Cost
$7,130,000

Photographer
John Mills

Project Overview

The street frontage of the new building is wrapped in brick to reflect the original features of the existing school buildings. Rich red brick with a lustrous blue/grey brick banding is used for the two main wings of the new building. The two wings are connected by a timber and block work curved courtyard link. This courtyard features a V-shaped roof, a dynamic mixture of steel and timber battening which is grounded by a rendered block work base. The curved hardwood timber battening and steelwork that frames the space creates a lightweight more modern, open feel to this significant corner of the building, reflecting the playful curved corners of the Original Building. The more subdued street aspect of the building is in contrast with the inside elevation which utilizes bright splashes of colour and pattern. The colour selections are an arrangement of primary bright blue and red with bold orange and green adding to the liveliness and an expression of the youthful exuberance of the school community. The second stage, Mt Sion Library was conceived as two solid brick bays, containing supporting rooms, with the library as a curved transparent volume connecting the brick boxes. The transparency of the library volume connects the classrooms through to the river. Once again, formal and textural qualities have been abstracted from the Original Building connecting the brick bays with the curved volume. This series of buildings has responded to the client’s brief, coming from quite traditional school values and spatial planning. The new building responded to these traditional needs whilst adding flexibility within the library and at the knuckle of the new classroom building. Refurbishing the existing classrooms at the same time allowed all new and existing classrooms to be opened at the same time. This provided a high and equivalent quality of finish and technology across the whole school, which was important to the client. Integration of allied disciplines was vital throughout these projects to create cost effective and efficient solutions. The client insisted the consultants remain consistent throughout all project stages, which created a productive team. Through the integration of disciplines a quite complex structural solution was realized, as well as a number of sustainable design principles humbly incorporated throughout the project (rainwater tanks, bio-retention, solar hot water, low e-glass and a building management system).