The Woodland Precinct
Following the opening of the Music Centre in 2024, the next stage of development in the campus master plan is focused on the Woodlands Precinct. This two-story building has ground-level facilities for Year 5 and Year 6, with the upper floor having additional secondary classrooms and additional staff facilities.
The location of the building on the school campus is what gives the new project its working title. In the northeast of the property is a wonderful ecological site, including a riparian (creek) line and a copse of woodland trees that is part of the remnant Cumberland Plain. Considerable care and planning have gone into preserving and maintaining the ecological significance of the site while designing a building that embraces it and reflects the grandeur of many of the trees. Further to this, the project takes inspiration from the Warren Integrated Studies HUB, which opened in 2022. While it does not seek to replicate that building, similar design and engineering principles have been applied.
The ground floor, with its grand south-facing entry, is designed to interface with the Junior School and welcome students as they move from the Junior School into the Middle School as part of Year 5 and Year 6. There are teaching spaces for all of Year 5 and Year 6, including GATEWay, with additional teaching spaces. There is also a room greater in size than two classrooms set aside as a practical learning lab for Science, as well as technology and visual arts. This room opens up to the woodlands to the north, as well as an amphitheatre in the centre of the new building. This amphitheatre is a focal point for the Year 5 and 6 space, allowing for considerable collaboration across the grades. The ground floor also has a staff room for the Year 5 and Year 6 teachers as well as student toilet facilities, passive outdoor learning areas, and active play spaces on the perimeter of the building. Students will be able to have supervised access to the woodland area as well. The architectural plans provide more detail as to the form and function of the design.
The first floor has six additional secondary classrooms, a large staff room accommodating the staff from the History, Social Sciences, International Languages and English Faculties and an outdoor reflective area overlooking the woodland. This floor is accessible via a large staircase adjacent to the Patrick Rooms, which house the Middle School and Senior School classrooms. The separation of access to the two floors is a central part of the design, separating the function of the secondary students and staff from that of Year 5 and 6, notwithstanding the proximity of their location.
The Development Application has been lodged with Camden Council. When approval has been granted, the School will begin the tender process. Commencement of the building will depend on the ability of the school to fund the project, with the recent quantity surveyor costing being $16.3 million to complete the project. To assist in this endeavour, supporters are able to donate online, and it is expected that a capital campaign will be launched to assist with funding of the new facility and to speed up its commencement.
The video below provides a fly-through produced by the architects to give an impression of the new facility. The architectural plans and Images are also provided below for your information.
