Williamstown High School
Client
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Type
Education, Sustainable
Scope
5,300sqm of new building, including classrooms, administration, gymnasium, canteen, horticulture facility and landscaping
“A confident project that not only incorporate extensive ESD principles, but also makes innovative and integrated use of them as teaching elements. The designers have achieved a striking outcome within the constraints of a public project budget. The innovative approach to ESD has contributed to a refreshingly uninstitutionalised interior that, while robust, is also highly habitable and dynamic.”
Location
Bayview Street, Williamstown, Victoria
Awards
2011 National Finalist - PCA Innovation and Excellence Awards
2008 Winner Public Category - Premier’s Sustainability Awards
2008 Sustainability Advancement - Australian Interior Design Awards
2007 Best Overall School Design - School Design Awards
2007 Best Secondary School - School Design Awards
Outcomes
The project team set out to design a campus that challenged how we think and feel about typical public school architecture. Williamstown High School was designed as a model school for environmental education, both in its built form and in the curriculum offered to students. Spowers used passive design principles and well-tested technologies to create a completely naturally ventilated school complex.
This was the first public school in Victoria to have achieved a 5 Star Green Star ‘As Built’ rating from the Green Building Council of Australia for the design of the buildings and their environments.
Located on a magnificent site adjacent to Port Philip and the Jawbone Marine Sanctuary, the campus integrates the landscape and provides a journey from the coast to inland bush through indigenous planting zones and a 2000m² wetland created in conjunction with Hobsons Bay City Council.
The campus includes an Environmental Centre where horticultural curriculum is delivered. This centre is a converted ‘greenhouse’ that allows for an indoor/outdoor experience for the students. There is also a privately run nursery on the school campus which provides support and guidance for the students as well as propagating indigenous plants for the local Hobsons Bay Council parklands.
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