Kidman Park Senior Campus – Nazareth Catholic Community

Kidman Park’s key design considers connection: between people, across campuses, and with nature. A chance conversation with a staff member at the St Gabriel Centre’s opening in 2021 about the relational value of circular gatherings inspired the design of several meeting places across the campus, including the central courtyard.

Spaces to gather and connect are dotted over two levels. These include the circular Quiet Shared Learning area and the Sacred Space link, with curved ceiling motifs, wall and floor treatments. Rounded, tiered seating areas welcome breakouts under staircases, and winding track lighting subtly steers wayfinding. Some elements echo earlier sister projects, like the Caritas Centre skylight, reminding students they are in a Nazareth learning environment.

By grouping like-minded subjects and their shared resources, we delivered an economical and flexible campus plan. For example, art and engineering are co-located and situated close to the technology workshops, with a teacher prep zone and shared learning area making for practical and flexible bridges between. Collaborative science and art learning spaces continue as a theme at Nazareth, which we provided through these contemporary and innovative learning areas.

Thoughtful indoor/outdoor transitions and conservation-focused landscaping bond students with the natural world and drive connections with the other Nazareth campuses. New plantings will climb the mesh fins of the building in future, too, demonstrating how a large, two-storey campus can still recede into its landscape.