Vision Magazine
One of the big challenges for educators is to
humanize rather than institutionalize, and to that
extent glass increases the potential for this to
occur with a language of such transparency.
It offers this extraordinary design flexibility with the
types of glass and colours. Internally we’ve always
been great believers in high transparency rather than
intense privacy. Such a long, relatively narrow building
meant it was easier to introduce natural light through
clerestories and across the section with extensive
external and internal glazing. Taking this idea even
further, glass-walled staircases at either end and the
main central staircase have natural light washing into
those areas. Of course there is feature glazing along the
south facade with beautiful views into the landscaped
garden and amphitheatre.
Many school buildings are informed by a tough,
Brutalist vernacular that are almost hose-outs rather
than inviting any sort of learning quality, or pleasure.
Yours may appear a less robust environment at first
glance, but in reality, it’s pretty robust isn’t it?
It is. This level of glass usage is not something we fear
at all. We would like to glaze as many classrooms as
possible in all of our education work. We were fortunate
in this instance, that all of the classrooms enjoy this
huge southerly aspect and it allowed a very soft light.
Late summer sunlight rakes that façade and we address
this with vertical louvres and articulation.
It’s a quite alternative approach because until recently
classrooms tended to be boxed-in with perhaps a sky
view to minimize classroom distraction.
It’s the complete opposite now. These students tend to
be very focused, so the idea that views into the garden
or sky might lead them astray and take their minds off
their study couldn’t be further from the truth.
There’s no longer the sense either of needing to
escape into the outdoors because this building does
such a good job at opening itself up.
That’s true and we built it around a magnificent
quadrangle with beautiful links to the landscaping
historic buildings and beautiful vegetation. That’s a
pretty good adjunct to the learning experience.
Modernist School