Aldinga Beach R-7 School

Refurbishment of an existing building within a Reception to Year 7 school.

Project Details

Architects
David Kilpatrick – Kilpatrick Architecture

Address
Quinliven Road, Aldinga South Australia 5173

Submitter
Deb O’Riley – Department for Education and Child Development

Cost
$1.786M

Photographer
Hiro Ishino

Project Overview

The existing building before the refurbishment, lacked light and classrooms were dark with poor ventilation, poor acoustics, worn and damaged floor covering, ceiling linings and walls. Half of the classrooms had no natural light except that borrowed from adjacent areas.

A key goal of the refurbishment was to create a beautiful, light-filled, functional learning space. The design brief required space for constructivist & explorative learning.

The circular nature of the building is the basis for 12 classrooms around the perimeter, all with external access to outdoor learning areas, gardens and toilets, and internal access to a ‘learning corridor’, play space, computer studio, small group learning space, complete with an amazing ‘yellow brick road’ of selected words significant to learning, which weave around the classrooms and corridors embossed in a three-dimensional carpet unique to Australia.

Just as the kitchen is the heart of the home, the centre of the building has a circular kitchen which has rapidly become the heart of the development. This kitchen supports the Stephanie Alexander kitchen lessons for students across the primary years.

The class learning areas are acoustically sound and technologically rich to support student learning and engagement. All learning areas provide flexibility for the flow of students between learning areas, with sliding doors and glass windows between spaces for mixed area supervision and natural light transmission. 

The design structure has also enhanced teacher’s learning through greater collaboration and opportunities to view each others practice without interruption and better supports collegiality through learning integration and shared resources.