Woodcroft College New Junior School
The idea for a new Junior School originated in 2018. Swanbury Penglase collaborated with Woodcroft College to develop a 20-year master plan, prioritising the construction of a new Early Learning Centre, followed by a two-story Junior School development to replace the existing precinct. That original Junior School, located at the opposite corner of the site, dated back to the early years of the College and consisted of over thirty transportable buildings.
A year after the Early Learning Centre was completed, and driven largely by its success, the College decided to move to triple streaming for the Junior School and thus a three storey building.
The transition represented a ‘cultural shift’ for teaching staff, who had been accustomed to the single-story ‘village-type’ Junior School for many years. The design team presented the benefits and opportunities of a ‘vertical village’ concept, with Learning Communities and specialist areas located around a central atrium—a space designed for both deliberate and incidental collaboration.
Loose furniture is provided throughout the breakout spaces to allow for flexible configurations. Breakout rooms on all three levels are designed for various uses, including collaborative group work—particularly for older students—quiet work time, or meetings between teachers, students, and parents.
Internal design colours, patterns and themes draw from the rich natural environment of the local area including references to Onkaparinga Gorge and River, the adjacent Bains Road Creek and the surrounding areas of bushland. This is most obviously expressed with a dynamic full height super-graphic wallpaper in the central atrium, including a series of native animals to discover.
The landscaping includes two specialist outdoor learning pavilions with custom perspex decorative screens to minimize weather exposure, offering options for structured teaching in the landscape or use during lunch and recess.
Wide balconies surround the building’s perimeter, providing direct connections from early years classrooms to the new Junior School landscape. Furthermore, direct visual links to the existing Early Learning Centre, as well as seamless access to the College oval, with amphitheatre seating and various play areas, enhance the educational, cultural, and functional opportunities offered by the new landscape.
- Disciplines:
- Architecture, Interiors, Landscape
- Industries:
- Education
- Completion:
- 2023
- Location:
- Morphett Vale, SA
- Photographer:
- Brad Griffin Photography
Enterprise Hub, 9 Light Square
In 2020, Swanbury Penglase was engaged by UniSA to completely reinvent 9 Light Square, Adelaide as a workplace hub.
With a rich history in the west end of the city, 9 Light Square had many previous lives including a skins and hides warehouse, the ‘Dutch Club’, Le Rox Nightclub and the Night Train Theatre Restaurant.
Our disciplines of Architecture, Interior Architecture and Heritage worked in strong collaboration on this adaptive reuse project, finding the balance between discovering and celebrating the building’s unique history and modernising it to become a place of enterprise and innovation.
Across two levels, the Enterprise Hub accommodates over 100 people in a variety of dynamic working settings to support the cross-pollination of business groups and ideas, to foster connections and partnerships that may not have been obvious. Spaces are flexible and adaptable to support the changing needs of the users and include incubation suites, agile co-working hubs, workshops and open plan work areas.
The project also included a complete building analysis and services and safety upgrade to create a habitable place ready for occupation and maintain this important and historic site into the future.
- Disciplines:
- Architecture, Heritage, Interiors
- Industries:
- Education, Fitout, Heritage & Conservation
- Completion:
- 2022
- Location:
- Adelaide, SA
- Photographer:
- Sam Noonan
Awards:
- AIA SA The David Saunders Award for Heritage, 2024
Vertex Apartments (2024)
Scheduled for completion 2024
Named after its expressive roof form which was inspired by the saw-tooth roof of the Main Assembly Building (MAB) opposite, Vertex Apartments is the product of a long-standing and trusted partnership between Peet and Swanbury Penglase. Sitting pride-of place on MAB Circuit, Vertex Apartments brings a new expression to apartment living at Tonsley Village.
The development has been planned as four distinct buildings which will be delivered over four separate stages. The planning of separate buildings is designed to reduce the built form along the streetscape. Openings in the façade serve to allow access & views between the buildings improving the connection between Tonsley Village and MAB Circuit. The separation between buildings also provides improved access for natural light into the apartments with windows carefully positioned to prevent overlooking. As a gateway project into Tonsley Village, the apartments are designed with large private balconies providing activation of MAB Circuit. Extensive landscaping along the road verge provides a sensitive interface along MAB Circuit whilst providing screening for ground floor apartments.
The buildings are articulated by a series of ‘picture frames’ which define the edges of the balconies and serve to provide privacy between the apartments. With its saw-tooth roof and white metal cladding, the form is expressive of the distinctive saw-tooth roof of the MAB opposite. The linear composition and repeated forms are designed to emulate a row of townhouses contributing to a more residential scale. Overall, the selection of materials reflects the industrial history of the site and a sense of place in Tonsley Village.
The 4-storey development will be delivered using lightweight timber framed construction appropriately designed to meet the sound transmission and insulation provisions and fire-resisting construction requirements of the NCC.
- Disciplines:
- Architecture
- Industries:
- Multi-Residential
- Completion:
- 2023
- Location:
- Tonsley, SA