Errington Special Education Centre

The new Errington Special Education Centre facility is located at the William Light School site. The sequential layout of the sub-school buildings, linked by the common access road for student arrival/departure, was determined in response to the land sub-division allocation of the existing William Light School campus.

The planning process included staff, families, school council and the students themselves. All members of the Project Team met regularly and reviewed the carefully compiled Education & Care Brief to gain a shared understanding of the student cohort for whom the new school was intended.

The William Light School community was also kept informed throughout the project procurement process. Regular consultation occurred relative to issues which were common to both schools including the carpark upgrade and the landscape designs.

The main design feature and consideration for the new facility was for simple and repetitive plan layouts for each sub-school building to reinforce student confidence and familiarity. The new buildings include the Junior Primary sub-school, Primary sub-school, Senior sub-school, Administration and the Horticulture and Bus Sheds.

The use of different colours within each sub-school provides the customization and individuality for student recognition of the year level progression and differentiation of functional spaces.

The underlying premise of the learning environment was the creation of spaces which maximized students ability to concentrate on learning and educational activities without distractions. Spatial layout, size, form and environmental conditions were all important considerations in the design process.