Timbarra P-9 College
ClarkeHopkinsClarke collaborated with Timbarra Primary School on the redevelopment and expansion of the existing Primary School to create an integrated Prep to Year 9 College. The new facilities provide learning neighbourhoods that are welcoming, engaging, comfortable and healthy, as well as fostering collaboration, creativity, independence, research and community.
Project Details
Architects
ClarkeHopkinsClarke Architects
Address
Parkhill Drive Berwick, Victoria 3806 Australia
Submitter
Wayne Stephens
Cost
$15,939,451
Photographer
Rhiannon Slatter
Project Overview
Timbarra P-9 College is located between two residential estates in Berwick, and was originally a Prep to Year 6 primary school. The redevelopment and expansion of Timbarra Primary School into an integrated Prep to Year 9 College provided an important opportunity to develop the School’s pedagogical vision and focus on both the new 7-9 component and the redevelopment of existing Prep to Year 6 facilities to ensure a consistent teaching philosophy for all students as they progress through the school.
The key objective of Timbarra P-9 College was to provide learning environments that support the learning needs of all students, can adapt to changing needs, and enable future pedagogical development, as well as fostering collaboration, creativity, independence, research and community. The new facilities provide learning neighbourhoods that support a variety of informal and formal learning modalities, allowing students to have everything at their fingertips and enabling staff to tailor their teaching mode to best suit the students. Facilities include informal spaces to support varied activities and modes of learning, and formal specialist spaces for science, visual communications, performing arts and food technology. The refurbishment and redevelopment of existing facilities has redefined the administration building to create a welcoming and identifiable College entry, and transformed existing cellular junior classrooms to support varied learning modes including messy play, c onstruction platforms, reading nooks, media areas, and independent/group learning spaces.
A combined stadium, performing arts centre and food technology facility was developed by the School in partnership with City of Casey, to provide a shared community resource. During Stage 1, a devastating arson attack on the stadium destroyed the almost complete building. The rebuilding process posed a new range of challenges, but by engaging all parties involved and formulating strategies to deliver the best outcome ClarkeHopkinsClarke were able to empower the stakeholders to work together to realise vision.
Timbarra P-9 College has been designed to support evolving pedagogies, to demonstrate the importance that the community places on education and to provide a facility that the whole community can use.