Sacred Heart Primary School – Multipurpose Hall

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Built on a unique site, the new Multipurpose Hall at Sacred Heart Primary School is one that responds to the context of the surrounding environment and the functional needs of its users and their wider community. The new space provides mulipurpose areas, Stage & performance facility, Canteen & Uniform Shop.

Project Details

Architects
Sandy Law

Address
35 Wicklow Avenue, Croydon VIC 3156

Submitter
Law Architects

Photographer
Peter Adnrewartha

Project Overview

Sacred Heart Primary School is situated on a heritage site in the leafy foothills of the Dandenongs on Monastery Hill. With extensive views on many sides and a three storey Heritage Monastery Building adjacent., the new Multipurpose Hall had numerous aspects to consider in its design response. 

The brief was to create a Multi purpose Hall that could be used by many user groups successfully, with the main use of the hall by the school during school hours.

The significant bulk of any large multi purpose hall posed a concern early on with the views to the Monastery needing to be retained not compromised. Siting and massing with respect to the existing monastery are catered for through excavation of the existing slope and seating the building into the cut, thereby reducing by nearly 2 metres its overall perceived height and dominance over the site.

The building form responded equally to the need to not overwhelm the surrounds by its bulk, through the creation of differentiated roof forms, a variety of colours, textures and materials.

Spatially the building is dynamic, engaging with the sky, and landscape surrounds extensively. Walls open up and expand naturally into the open undercover areas, whilst internally large sliding doors enable the multi-purpose main hall to be expanded for larger occasions.

Sustainability is embedded into the fabric of the building, with the use of plantation grown timber, eco ply, rain water harvesting, abundant natural southern lighting, highlight and low level night purging venting system etc.