Upper primary facility – Antonio Catholic School, Morphett Vale

Despite its hulking mass and prominence at the northern entry on busy Bains Road, the 1970s three-storey Hoskin building had been surprisingly non-descript. Positioned as it was on an awkward slope, it also failed to meet modern DDA access compliance requirements and was largely disconnected from the neighbouring buildings on site. Navigating a crucial retaining wall and latent conditions, painstaking groundwork ensured DDA-compliant access that included welcoming courtyards on both lower and upper levels. The end result solved for direct external access for five of the eight GLAs and egress on every building face.

Team-teaching and collaborative planning were crucial within the brief, so eight GLAs were designed in pairs, bridged by shared teacher preparation rooms. Three “Think Tanks” alongside offer focused and diversified learning, driving early scholastic improvements for those students needing extra support.

In the breakouts, a slimline steel floor decking system and maximum floor-to-floor ceiling heights helped maintain spaciousness indoors despite an awkward slope. Exposing and colouring this decking added further headroom, while putting design innovation on display for students and staff.

Rich, green finishes and timber-look detailing feature in classroom calm corners and larger shared zones, further connecting this building to its natural environment. Strip lighting in cruciform motifs feature subtly on the stairs and in suspended batten formations within the Think Tanks. In the GLAs, too, we designed prayer nooks built into joinery to save on space, and as a daily reminder of the Catholic identity and mission.