LOYOLA CENTER – SHALOM COLLEGE

Shalom college is located in bush land settings on the outskirts of West Bundaberg. Over the years a more unified approach was developed to integrate Junior and Senior Zones so that the physically defined separation was minimized. A house structure was developed with vertical streamed tutor groups and house colors clearly emphasized the individual groups and at the same time sought to unify the campus.

As the school grew over the years existing facilities were not able to cope with the growing needs of the School. A detailed Master planning process enlightened the need for new Administration facilities as well as a symbolic sacred space to highlight the core values of the school.

The design of the New facilities was influenced by existing building locations & setbacks, existing preferred circulation paths & scale of surrounding existing structures. The Loyola Centre was envisioned as a flexible space that could cater for a small class or be opened up for much larger groups but was also located to allow for the community to access and use this facility. As requested by the school a Specialist stain glass artist was engaged right from the onset and liaised with the design team to come up with a solution that would seamlessly integrate a large stain glass image within the new curtain wall system.

The Loyola Centre and the Lecture space allow up to three teachers to bring their classes to facilitate team teaching. This allows for ‘expert’ instruction to a large group. This building allows the school to ‘break down walls’ between classrooms and to maximize the skills of teachers. The AV facilities in this building are a significant asset.

The building is shaped to provide welcoming spaces for the envisaged differing group sizes. The shape also reflects the need to provide for covered waiting areas for school pick-up. The prominent location of the building meant that all elevations were viewed by visitors. As such, the northern elevation also is used to reflect the shape of the adjacent bus pick-up area and incorporates screens to mechanical plant.