Salisbury East High School Performing Arts and Senior Students Centre

This project provided the opportunity to revitalise a school almost untouched for 40 years. A new building accommodates dance, drama, art, music and multimedia facilities. Its shape wraps together a diverse range of facilities and demonstrates the value of performing arts in the life of the school and community. The Senior Students Centre provides a range of flexible learning and lounge facilities in refurbished accommodation.

Splashes of colour together with black stained plywood and light fittings that mirror the display spaces create a sense of drama and fun within the interior. Folding, perforated whitewash plywood panels push in and out of the corridor and gallery spaces to house the students’ own creations. The guiding design principle was that every artwork, every music performance, every dance move and every multimedia piece must be respected, given dignity and space, and its creator valued.

The school runs “MAD” nights, – which stands for Music, Art and Dance, and wanted flexible spaces for large performances and gallery spaces for art display. We created a teaching space also used for performance with bleacher seating for 150 which also opens out to a large sheltered space and grassed amphitheatre. A dedicated gallery for MAD nights was not possible so a gallery space which doubles as the other music classroom but opens up for bigger displays was created

The Principal notes:

“The project has delivered a welcoming, highly functional, spacious and light- filled Arts Centre that supports 21st Century learning and reflects the school’s ethos of ‘Learning Together, Achieving Together’. This facility with connected outdoor spaces has become a vibrant learning hub within the school with creative activities and independent learning taking place throughout the school day. It has genuinely transformed our school and brought about significant improvement across our learning culture, as well as raising our profile within the wider community.”

“Overall this impressive project provides a dynamic new learning facility that nurtures collaboration, celebrates creativity, promotes innovation and represents the forward thinking and new direction for Salisbury East High School.”