St Luke’s Grammar School – Senior Studies Refurbishment
Project Details
Architects
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects
Address
210 Headland Road Dee Why Sydney, NSW 2029 Australia
Submitter
Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation
Cost
$9,400,000
Photographer
Brett Boardman
Project Overview
Starting with a whole-of-school masterplan in 2008, the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, St Luke College and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer have undertaken new construction and refurbishment to provide this leading school with contemporary facilities to meet the high standards of its educational program and the needs of all its students and staff.
Like many city schools, the College started with a small site and simple buildings, and over the years new land acquisitions and buildings increased its size to meet immediate needs, with little long-term vision. The pressing needs for the school included increased parking and delivery access, better playing and recreation spaces and the upgrading of the entire senior school, previously housed in the original 1960s building.
New accommodation provided in Stage 1 included a major car-park with a generous and light-filled art suite above and basketball courts for the entire school on the roof. Linked with this work was the upgrade of the middle school’s play court and new change rooms and staff facilities for the expanded and re-grassed playing field.
The subsequent stages have seen the entire senior school building brought to contemporary standards of environmental control, pedagogy and accessibility, with a distinctive and unifying design, upgraded external spaces and improved connections to the remainder of the campus.
Exceptional Features A major determinant in the very tight site was the need to keep the school operational at all times, requiring not only careful design but the strategic planning of every construction stage to ensure adequate accommodation and access, as well as environmental control at all times. Working with the construction contractors, this proved highly effective, with positive feedback not only from the school but also from adjoining residents.
The disparate character of the existing buildings led to the adoption of a unifying and distinctive sunshade system able to be applied, with variations to suit shading requirements, to new and existing facades. Using brightly-coloured verticals and folding perforated aluminium screens, the sunshades give a sense of movement and dynamism, as well as proving exceptionally functional and effective.
At the heart of the school, the Douglas Quadrangle has been revived with new landscape and new places for small-groups to gather in sheltered locations.
