Tranby College

Senior High School and Administration Building

The Brief:

New two-storey building on an existing site, incorporating a new Senior School on the Ground Floor and a new school administration on the First Floor

Location
Baldivis, Western Australia
Builder
Badge Constructions
Construction
June 2013
Photographer
Andrew Pritchard

The concept of a senior school and contemporary learning environments drove the planning process initially. As an independent school, parent involvement via the Board and teacher involvement from transient educators from around the globe, became a core component for EIW. We had to take the stakeholders on a journey of discovery, encouraging them to look at their own learning experiences, exploring the reality of how learning is taking place today and educating decision makers accordingly. The use of Ewan MacIntosh’s ‘Seven Spaces for Learning’ model was a catalyst in running workshops with different groups, including teachers, parents and students. The use of 3D modelling and walk throughs to envision the learning environments was successfully used in the planning process.

Stage 3 of EIW Architects’ involvement with Tranby College includes the development of a new Senior School and Administration Building. The new building is designed to accommodate the growing school population and create a statement about the learning offered by Tranby College, and its place in the community.

The learning areas within the Ground Floor include a mix of large and small flexible spaces, a Study Cafe and a Tiered Forum space. An interior design scheme using pixelated colours and natural timber tones leads to a sophisticated atmosphere, as the students navigate from middle school to become the senior school students of the K-12 campus.

On the First Floor, a new Administration centre will centralise the administration functions of the College and allow all staff to meet in one space, in the new Staff Community Room. The unique College colours have been included in the external design to enable the new building to act as a beacon to the local community.