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Places for learning in the landscape

Shellharbour School

The Shellharbour School building is an addition to an existing school campus located on a picturesque hillside south of Sydney. The site is located next to the existing theatre and forms the last element in the current masterplan. The building contains a diverse set of functions that do not naturally co-exist: drama, music and food preparation. The budget was incredibly tight and based upon a low square metre rate applied to the basic area schedule. However, looking across the masterplan it was obvious that the adoption of a spreadsheet-based procurement logic had precluded any thinking about interstitial spaces that provide for the informal meetings, conversations and activities so important for creativity and communication.

  • TYPE Education
  • LOCATION Shellharbour | AU
  • YEAR 2016
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    Brett Boardman

APPROACH

"Third Space" Diagram

Program: Brief

Program: Adjustment

Program: Refinement

Taking the functional tensions between the three uses as a cue to reconsider the project, TERROIR designed three separate, discrete pavilions – one for each function – that increased wall area but resolved functional and acoustic issues. A single overhanging roof binds the three together as one project. This combination of discrete pavilions and roof produced a series of covered outdoor learning spaces including a ‘circulation threshold’ that runs between each of the pavilions and a series of ‘view pockets’ between each building, which are smaller in scale and combine focused views with skylights. In addition, the landform was used to add an entirely new space: an outdoor theatre that extends the drama space using the natural fall of the ground.

GALLERY

DRAWINGS

MODELS

Buildings Public Tourism Education Commercial Housing Urban Research

SYDNEY SYD HOBART HBA COPENHAGEN CPH

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