Kyneton Primary School

Kyneton is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. In the 2016 census, it recorded a population of 6,951 people

Architects Gray Puksand designed the new-build Kyneton Primary School.

That meant that students and staff had to be relocated from the existing bluestone buildings on Baynton Street.

That had predictable impacts on the community.

And not everyone was 100% happy.

But the community’s concerns were managed by Gray Puksand through consultation and collaboration.

Gray Puksand’s scheme envisaged three new school buildings.

They termed them as ‘learning communities’.

These new buildings drew together the primary school students in modern, adaptive learning spaces.

Gray Puksand designed these spaces to grow with the school and allow for further adaptation as new teaching styles and technologies develop.

Two almost-identical learning communities were created around a central collaborative hub.

Respecting the needs of a variety of pedagogies, these buildings provide adaptable spaces suited to traditional teaching, team teaching, and project-based learning.

“By taking out a lot of the components of a traditional classroom — a sink, wet area, reading area etc. — and placing more generous versions in communal areas, we’re able to free up space within the classrooms themselves,” explains Mark Freeman, Partner at Gray Puksand.

“We’ve been able to provide all these new spaces the school never thought they be able to get.”

Each of these new spaces is easily accessible to the classrooms, and contain full domestic kitchens, dedicated quiet areas with tiered sections for reading and presentations, a large wet studio for art activities, and project studios — multipurpose, multi-format spaces where students can make noise, ideate and build.

The teaching spaces can be configured to suit more traditional single-teacher modes, or adapted — through basic reconfiguration — to allow for full team-teaching environments.

The guiding aspect to this project for Gray Puksand is that it is a community school.

“Kyneton is rapidly growing and transitioning from country town to almost a suburban outpost. However, the community is incredibly strong, passionate and involved in the school, so it was crucial that the new primary school was a permeable building, and an inviting one.”

The third building — the central collaborative hub — acts as both a space to bring students and staff together, and also as an entry point, and gathering point, for the whole school community.

All visitors enter through the main lobby and gallery space — from which you can see through the large multipurpose space and out to the ovals beyond.

The two adjacent learning communities are linked through pathways and landscaping with this central building, following natural desire paths.

Gray Puksand carefully considered the architecture and positioning of the three building.

Placed at the top of the sloping site, the new buildings link to the single street frontage, ensuring the school maintains a strong presence, alongside the neighbouring Catholic School.

“It was important that the separate buildings were kept level with one another, to avoid overshadowing,” Freeman explains. “The architecture itself allows for maximum natural light penetration, cross ventilation and internal pathways.”

The buildings have large terraces for outdoor learning.

Gardens, and pergola frames for growing climbing plants were provided, acknowledging Kyneton’s focus on sustainable practices and gardening.

Gray Puksand is sensitive to the rapidly transforming nature of education.

And rather than dictating to teachers and students ‘this is how teaching is done now’, their designers and architects work hard on deep consultation, listening, and collaborative research to understand a community’s needs and explore new models.

“The aim is to help teachers move forward to modern pedagogies in their own time, and the spaces must allow for that,” says Freeman.

“We visited a range of other schools, using various new teaching methods, where Kyneton teachers could speak one-on-one with teachers using more adaptable spaces. Where they once may have feared the ‘chaos’ of team-teaching and project-based learning, they actually saw focused and engaged students in a real-world environment. It was a wonderful process of discovery for all of us.”

Project Details

Project size – 2,700 m2

Project Budget – $11,900,000

Completion date – 2018

Project Team

Architecture

Gray Puksand

Gray Puksand is a leading Australian architecture and integrated design practice with studios in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

They create places of integrity designed to improve the way people work, learn and live.

www.graypuksand.com.au

Photography

Christine Francis

Melbourne photographer Christine Francis specializes in interiors, architecture and design. She greatly appreciates diversity and collaboration in her work, a preference that shines through in her images. Francis’ academic background is in visual communication – her photographs have featured projects in Australia and abroad.

www.christinefrancis.com