St Marys College – an exciting corner for learning in Adelaide’s CBD

St Mary's College, a Reception to Year 12 girls’ school in Adelaide’s CBD, can be proud of its new Veritas Centre and refurbished State Heritage-listed Boylan building opened in February 2019.

St Mary’s Corner, as it’s now known, is a corner with streetscape and student appeal. From the Adelaide Park Lands we could fully appreciate the prominent CBD site that has been transformed from carpark to contemporary learning facility.

Clad in zinc and polycarbonate this bold building presents a contemporary facade and yet contrasts well with adjacent heritage buildings. The design provides glimpses of ‘learning on display’ and opportunities for internal lighting at night to further activate the street corner.

From inside the walled campus, the bustling city turns into a serene and welcoming green space bounded by the new Veritas Centre, renovated Boylan building, library and other school facilities.

Architects Grieve Gillett Andersen and School Principal Clare Nocka shared stories about the design, construction and use of the outstanding learning environments and relevance to the school community. 

The facility is a testament to an excellent collaborative design process between a brave client providing a clear brief, innovative designers and a very good builder in Sarah Constructions.

We toured the vibrant Year 12 centre, visual art faculty, multi-purpose indoor court, administrative offices and ICT Hub. A highlight of the tour was the acoustically engineered upper level multi-purpose indoor court. This space has amazing natural light on two sides and the design, colours and materials create a great interactive learning space.

The newly created learning environments will certainly encourage excellence in learning for St Mary’s girls.

Article and Photos: Georgina House

Lead Gallery Photo: Grieve Gillet Andersen