Canterbury SouthPublic SchoolCanterbury South Public School

Canterbury South Public School is a new future focused primary school campus for 690 students, designed to respond to the existing school character and reflect the unique natural aspects of the site. The school is situated adjacent to Pat O’Conner Reserve at the top of Cup and Saucer creek, a tributary of the Cooks River with beautiful district views of the city and surrounding area.

The River Bank concept for the school was developed to tell the story of the beautiful elements of the Cook river through the design. The intent was to help remake connections between the river and community and foster an understanding of the value of the Cooks River and our collective responsibility to care for it. ESD and WSUD principles are embedded in the design to help improve adjacent waterways and educate students.

A dry creek bed (the river promenade) links the Arrival area, Reception, Library, Canteen and Hall. Students come down to the river to gather, learn and eat. The covered learning area in front of the hall features a brilliant blue ceiling designed to create the feeling of feeling of immersing oneself in the water and connecting with the Cooks river.

The multi-purpose hall has been designed for performance as a black box and as a naturally lit space for school gatherings and flexible learning. Additionally, a large village green provides an active central spine through the middle of the school flanked on the south by the new three-storey future-focused learning hub building. Each learning hub features a central learning commons & resource nook flanked by two classrooms on each side that can facilitate team teaching.

NBRS worked closely with the school to ensure that school-specific educational principles and future-focused learning have been incorporated accordingly. Substantial thought has also gone into ensuring the project is sustainable. To achieve this, NBRS developed a design with a reduced carbon footprint that was water sensitive and passive.

NBRS reduced the carbon footprint of Canterbury South Public School through an optimal balance between maximization of ceiling heights, view and provision of natural light with reduction of volume and minimization of panel cutting and wastage. The buildings are designed to use passive cross-ventilation where possible and light-coloured materials (SRI) to reduce heat load while preventing glare.

Additionally, the design team were able to create a water-sensitive design by maximising retention of the existing tree canopy, maximising the previous areas on the site to approximately 52% of the site and introducing rainwater harvesting. NBRS also implemented Gross Pollutant Traps treatment and used acoustic baffles which were comprised of 60% post PET bottle flakes; ensuring the reduction of plastic polluting rivers and waterways.

The existing school was operational through the entire delivery process with the unique staging solution meeting the school's needs for general learning spaces during construction as well as delivering a seamless campus design.