Bullsbrook College
Project Details
Architects
Cox Howlett & Bailey Woodland
Address
Chittering Road Bullsbrook Perth , Western Australia 6000 Australia
Submitter
Matthew Batchelor
Cost
AUD $25 Million
Photographer
Alison Paine
Project Overview
The concept of campus unification was the core principle behind Bullsbrook College ‘s redevelopment. A series of spinal buildings were adopted, transecting new pedestrian pathways and linking new with refurbished spaces, providing an integrated planning approach across the site which reduced both the physical and learning facility gap between the lower and upper schools
Bullsbrook District High School consisted of two separate school campuses developed independently over a period of 60 years with the existing arrangement of facilities and age of the original school buildings disconnecting students, staff and learning pathways. Cox Howlett & Bailey Woodland ‘s completion of the rebranded ‘Bullsbrook College ‘ produced a seamless language of external architecture unifying the primary and secondary schools into one learning community. The shared oval, new sports hall and canteen, along with the associated newly connecting pathways, provide a physical link between the two previously separated school communities. The internal spaces of the existing school were re-built to ensure no perceived difference between ‘old and new ‘ occurs any longer.
The re-use – through refurbishment – of existing building stock provides an excellent sustainable outcome for the project. The choice of materials and method of construction was drawn directly from key cost and programming studies. The architectural response respected the existing mixed palette of form, finish and colour from the existing site by drawing on key strong earth elements from the original campus set against neutral grey tones and crisp whites.
The built environment at Bullsbrook College is well recognised as an essential framework for informal as well as formal exchange and investigation, and the seeds of learning occur in a variety of contexts: social, physical and ideological. The idea that the conversation outside the classroom is as important as the work inside the classroom has been adopted at the College where informal and peer-group learning complement more formal methods of learning and knowledge transfer.
New buildings were oriented to provide excellent passive ventilation and solar performance and, through the creation of new green courtyards adjacent to these spaces, the reduction of heat load. Refurbished buildings were upgraded to greater environmental performance and careful consideration was taken to the value of existing mature and established landscape reinforced by supplemental native planting. The completed project has transformed the site and strengthened Bullsbrook College ‘s pedagogy which has a keen focus on sustainability.
The project has assisted in the reinvigoration of a sense of pride in the school, has strengthened and unified a community and has provided the ability to deliver a broader curriculum which fosters the development of a greater student body.
