The New South Wales government is planning to build a new high school in Jerrabomberra, a suburb of Queanbeyan on the border of the ACT.
Designs for the school by Tanner Kibble Denton Architects and Context Landscape Architecture have been placed on public exhibition as part of a state-significant development application.
Part of the Monaro Cluster of Schools, which includes projects in Jerrabomberra, Bungendore, Googong, Murrumbateman and Jindabyne, the school will help address increased demand created by a rapid growth in surrounding residential development. It will cater to up to 500 students initially, but core facilities such as the school hall, canteen and staff areas will be designed so that they could suit a 1,000-student school, should the learning spaces need to be expanded in the future.
Planning documents describe an L-shaped building form framing the high point of the site, which will be kept as open space and act as a natural “gathering place.”
The new high school in Jerrabomberra by Tanner Kibble Denton Architects.
The bulk and scale of the proposed buildings, which range from one to three storeys, respond to the natural topography, with the buildings stepping down the slope toward the west and south.
“Breaks in the built form have been made, to allow visual and physical permeability, and to further break down the building mass,” the architect notes. “The design of finishes, including external screening and sunshades, create a visual rhythm on the facades which divides up the length of the buildings.”
The school will sit on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngarigo peoples and the design process is being undertaken in consultation with local Indigenous representatives. Informed by these talks, the design team has incorporated a number of gathering places, including a yarning circle and a productive garden. The importance of moths to the area as the subjects of ancient and modern stories has also been reflected in the design, with the metal screening on the facade representing clusters of bogong and golden sun moths.
The school is expected to be operational by 2023.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
