Fairhills Primary School

Project Details

Architects
Minx Architecture

Award
Winner: Category 3 Renovation/Modernisation over $1m

Address
Manuka Drive, Ferntree Gully 3158 Victoria

Submitter
Minx Architecture

Cost
$ 3,376,300

Photographer
Mark Ashkanasy, Minx Architecture

Project Overview

A capped budget of $4 million, three 1960’s buildings, a sloping site and the hope to re-energise the educational opportunities for students at Fairhills Primary School, provided the planning team with a challenge. The simple solution would have been to provide the school with a stand-alone new facility. Instead the design team elected to encourage the planning committee to consider recycling the existing buildings, demolishing some and adding new linking built form between the existing areas. This environmentally sensitive approach has enabled the budget to stretch to provide new facilities across the entire school.

The form of the Light Timber Framed 1960’s school buildings lends well to natural ventilation of the teaching spaces. Rather than roofing over the low level corridor area, the planning group elected instead to install new louvered window suites with automated louvers to the upper galleries to allow night-time purging of the spaces. This decision allowed maximum fresh air intake to the spaces and has improved the learning environment significantly.

Gutting and recycling the existing building envelope enabled the team to focus on how the spaces could best be adapted to contemporary pedagogy. The existing varying ceiling heights provided a simple definition of space which was developed further through the careful placement of new glazed screens, colourful floor finishes and installation of fixed joinery. The resulting learning neighbourhoods allow learning activities to take place in both active hubs and focussed think tank spaces.

Disability access proved a challenge at this school. This problem was solved by creating a new central linking spine to the school. Two existing separate wings running east west were linked by a new common use structure running north south. This has become known as “The Core”. The new facility allows for disability access throughout the school, and also provides a link between the four new learning neighbourhoods. It accommodates common flexible use spaces, houses resource material and provides meeting space, presentation areas and quiet study alcoves.

The existing elevated classrooms did not allow for any access to the outdoor learning environment. The external works budget was directed towards the construction of new Learning Decks to the east and west of the Core. Accessed via large glazed lift panel doors from each of the learning neighbourhoods, they incorporate wet project space areas and tiered presentation areas.

The Core construction breaks through to the administration and entry point of the school. It creates a new identity which demonstrates the renewed pedagogy within. Externally the building incorporates coloured glazing to create a vibrant facade, a light filled space while at the same time reducing heat load on the internal spaces.

With innovative and lateral thinking, the design team have provided a contemporary and vibrant learning environment for Fairhills Primary School, whilst recycling and refreshing the learning spaces of past decades to embrace current pedagogy. This approach has resulted in a fully realised budget, and a built form which will provide the school with useful, flexible teaching and learning spaces for many years to come.