Humans of Carey: Dr Kellee Frith

Mother of Year 7 student Alex

I’m an Education Environments Strategist at Architectus, the architecture firm that designed Carey’s beautiful new Middle School building, the Centre for Creativity and Collaboration.

My role on the project started before the design began and before I really knew anything about the School. I worked with the School community to understand their vision and philosophy for education, the rhythms and routines of their daily activities and the kinds of learning experiences and relationships they wanted to promote in their new environments. That information was distilled into an education design brief, which drove the architectural response and the interior design.

My position at Architectus is a relatively new one in the world of architecture. For me it came about after I completed my PhD which examined what role school interior design can play in changing the culture of learning and teaching. My research brought together my previous professional experience in design and tertiary education, and has led to me being described as someone who speaks two languages – pedagogy and design.

Essentially, my role is to enable a dialogue between school communities and designers that helps everyone make informed decisions throughout the life of a project. I understand what teachers and schools want from their environments and I know how to explain that to architects. I can also see how a design will enable those learning practices and can explain that to educators in a way that makes sense to everyone.

During the detailed consultation process with Carey, I worked closely with the school leaders, teachers and Middle School students. Through those conversations I learned a lot about Carey, its philosophies and its values – all of which resonated with me. In particular, I was deeply impressed by how much student wellbeing and pastoral care inform every aspect of Carey’s education program and practice. My husband, Angus, went to Carey, but prior to working on the Middle School project I didn’t know very much about the School itself. We had been considering sending our son Alex to Carey but were still undecided. After the terrific privilege of working so closely with the School, the insights I gained became the deciding factor in our selecting Carey for Alex’s secondary education. We are delighted to have a student starting in the new building and I can’t wait to see how the new learning environments are used and inhabited.

Read more about the Centre for Creativity and Collaboration on page 10, written by Kellee and our Head of Middle School, Michael Nelson.