8 minute read
St Lucy's School: a community enriched by difference; inspiring learning for a life of purpose
from Access Insight - Winter 2022
by ACAA
by Caroline Hart Principal, Stanton Dahl Architects
Caroline is a Principal at Stanton Dahl Architects where she has been working since 2006. With over 16 years of experience working in educational architectural design, she enjoys the meaningful contribution architectural design and engaged partnership can make to the delivery of a school’s strategic vision and in doing so providing new opportunities for the delivery of effective learning, community engagement and support.
In late 2016, St Lucy’s School engaged Stanton Dahl Architects to partner with them to plan the growth of the school from 104 to 240 students, and to develop purpose-built learning areas that responded to the discrete physical, social, learning and developmental needs of their students.
Image: Outdoor play area St Lucy’s School is a Catholic School in the Dominican tradition for students with disabilities, located in the leafy heritage suburb of Wahroonga on Sydney’s upper north shore.
The Wahroonga campus was constructed over time between 1959 and 2010.
The majority of the learning areas were developed in the 1960’s when St Lucy’s was a school for the blind.
Built for their time, the existing learning environments were tight, inflexible and in some cases inaccessible, restricting the movement of students and the ability of the teaching staff to respond to the diversity of needs of the students in 21st Century.
In 2019 a masterplan for the campus was approved, reimagining all the existing learning environments to provide the school with new, safe, and accessible learning spaces with all associated support services and amenities. The first stage of development was the proposed new construction of a 3-storey building with 16 purpose-built classrooms over two floors and basement carparking and student pick up and drop off facilities. This building would be called the Dominic Centre.
The Dominic Centre was designed to respond to the school’s focus on the development of the whole child; spiritually, socially, intellectually, and creatively. Placing emphasis on building students’ capabilities in the areas of communication and social engagement, independence, technology, literacy and numeracy through explicit instruction and specialist support from their therapy services team, specialist teachers and artists in residence.
Accessibility, inclusiveness and a strong engagement with the diverse needs of the students was therefore key to a successful outcome. As was an integrated response to the existing buildings on campus and existing play areas.
Image: Building with play area
Image: Learning area
Image: Learning area
QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
The siting of the Dominic Centre on the southern side of the campus allowed for the integrated flow of movement from the north facing play areas into the new learning environments and activity spaces.
Designed for 8-9 students and 3 teaching staff per learning area, the 16 new General Learning Areas (GLA) are fully accessible and furnished with ICT teaching and learning aids for children with special needs, with each learning area being designed with:
• A central general activity/learning space equipped with height adjustable work benches, kitchen facilities and a large activity table to bring the whole class group, teachers and teachers’ aides together to share meals, explore STEM projects and exercise life skills.
• Two complimentary learning areas focused on student learning including one-on-one learning support, small group work or simply a space for students to regulate without the stimulation of the class group. These complimentary learning spaces are key to the success of the learning outcomes at St. Lucy’s and are provided to each classroom but also throughout the facility in safe, supervised, indoor and outdoor locations with a variety of scales and adjacency.
The learning spaces at St Lucy’s new Dominic Centre have an intentionally repeated design to provide consistency and knowability between learning areas and floors, to aid students in the navigation of the spaces. Consistency in the design detail was key, creating a seamless and calm design palate. This requirement extended into the detail on the learning areas specifically responding to the following sensory learning requirements:
Acoustics
Reverberant noise can be unsettling for students and impede learning outcomes. The new facilities were specified with absorbent wall linings and high performance acoustic ceiling linings, to reduce the reverberant noise levels and quieten the classrooms. Teaching staff have noted that these fittings have been instrumental in “providing a learning environment that allows for learning to take place for students who are ready to focus and for those who are not self-regulated to coexist with reduced interruption to learning.”
Communication
Designed and embedded technological aides including the Phonak Roger Mylink hearing augmentation system, was fully integrated with each classroom to facilitate communication and learning.
Lighting
Artificial lighting levels can be adjusted to respond to the needs of each class and individual vision impairment. Soft indirect natural lighting throughout is supplied by generous glazing which makes the most of the tree-lined suburban vistas.
Image: Customised change rooms with adult change tables and Rifton Vertical changing station
Materials
Materials and colours have been specifically chosen to avoid colours that could agitate or fluctuate student energy levels.
ACCESSIBLE DESIGN OUTCOMES
Creating quality indoor and outdoor spaces was essential to the design, however, it’s the small things that make the building a success. Inbuilt responses to the key briefing requirements of Safety, Security and Accessibility were indispensable to the everyday running of the school.
Accessibility
• Accessibility solutions that responded to the diversity of student needs defined the building design from entry to paths of travel to security and amenities, facilitating the students’ efforts to strive for independence in selfcare and learning in a supportive, dignified and nurturing way.
• With the student population heavily reliant on assisted travel to and from school, a convenient, efficient and safe drop off and pick up area was needed. The extensive basement provides a secure all-weather kiss and drop zone, allowing students to arrive ready for their day in a safe, secure and calm environment.
• The journey from the carpark to the classroom traverses the Dominic Centre. A lift and vertical stair access connects all three levels. Compliant horizontal connections into the adjacent existing Veritas Centre, Creative Arts Centre and play areas complete the links throughout the campus.
• Amenities are centrally located to each set of four learning areas with adult change facilities, accessible bathrooms and ambulant facilities provided at a higher ratio than is required under the National Construction Code, responding to the explicit needs of the student. The amenity design also accommodates the physical height difference in students related to age and ability with two junior pans included in addition to the standard, ambulant and accessible height WC’s.
• Both the adult change facilities (1 per floor) and the accessible bathrooms (2 per floor) where fitted with motorised, height adjustable adult change tables & associated hoists, plus each was fitted with a built in Rifton Vertical changing station. All amenities where fitted with emergency call buttons.
Safety and Security
• The safety and security of students and staff is at the heart of the design. The positioning of the Dominic Centre onsite intentionally allows for the building to present itself openly and accessibly to the street whilst providing a double layer of security and safe and accompanied access to and from Billyard Ave.
• The stairs and first floor verandahs of the new centre are fully enclosed to ensure student safety from climbing and fall related risks. This also provided the opportunity for the creation of the first-floor breezeway verandah, overlooking the play area and screened with colourful vertical battens that filter and deflect the midday sun.
• Large internal and external windows throughout the building design allow for diffused natural light throughout the building and support both staff and students in providing comprehensive clear supervision throughout the new building.
The Dominic Centre has now been experienced by the students, tested and flexed through the complexities of Covid and its aftermath. It has performed, responded and supported both the staff and students as they grow and develop. As St. Lucy’s continues to plan for the future, they know that their students are supported by the St Lucy’s Community and the buildings that house them.
The Dominic Centre
St Lucy’s School 21 Cleveland Street, Wahroonga, NSW
Architect
Stanton Dahl Architects 18 – 20 Oxford Street, Epping, NSW www.stantondahl.com.au
Access Consultant
Farah Madon Vista Access Architects Pty Ltd www.accessarchitects.com.au
Photographer
Evan Maclean Photography http://evanmaclean.com
