Master Plan Vision for the French School of Sydney

The French School of Sydney is growing. It gained nearly a 100 students in two years. To cope with this growth the school need both, a long term vision and new classrooms in the short term.

The approach taken to developing the Master Plan for the short-term is to be as economical as possible: minimise demolition and be cost-effective for new construction and refurbishment.  It will be a Master Plan that the school can afford.

Currently, the Lycee Condorcet Campus suffers the fate of many schools that have been developed and/or divided over time without a Master Plan to inform their development.  The school is at a point now, where with strategic thought, it can be transformed into an attractive and functional campus that will meet the expectations of students and parent. One of the aims of the Master Plan will be to create a cohesive campus with a distinctive identity of which the school can be proud rather than just an agglomeration of buildings of different styles.  This can be achieved partly with architecture but importantly with a solution for the external spaces that will unite the campus. Landscape is a vital contributor to the quality of the campus.  The campus has several large, beautiful gum trees that should be monitored and maintained to remove potentially dangerous branches.  New trees should be selected according their safety, an also in order to create a harmonious ensemble with existing specimens. The introduction of built and planted elements that connect the different precincts of the campus will be the key to a cohesive campus with comfortable student flow.  For example, the covered walkway could be extended so that most buildings can be reached under it; its role will give an architectural expression within the external areas as well as being a practical solution in both wet and hot weather.  The central courtyard has a lovely quality that can be expanded upon and used in other parts of the school grounds.  Large trees and the covered walkway on 2 sides contribute to give the school an identity.  It is the space shown on the website and in brochure so it is already part of the school’s memory.  Refurbishment of existing building façades is the opportunity to reinvent the school’s image as well as introduce environmentally sustainable design measures (ESD).  With the introduction of sun shading elements, cladding and paint, existing building stock can be reinvented with materials and colour palette.

The proposed 3 new classrooms and toilet extension is discreetly located in the south-west corner of the campus behind the pedestrian bridge.  Its position at the right angle junction of 2 existing 1920’s buildings continues the ribbon of classrooms in Block D.  The location of the new toilets is somewhat more complex and depends on the user groups and playground locations.  We have shown them in the new extension but they could equally be swapped with classrooms closer to the centre of the campus.  The new building should be contemporary architecture without detracting from the adjacent buildings and begin the reinvention of the overall image of the school.  New buildings should not try to mimic the existing ones but pick up elements in their geometry and alignments and use a similar colour palette.  The location is one that lends itself to minimum interruption of the school during construction.

Alexandria Industrial Estate revitalisation

Alexandria Industrial Estate is situated in a suburb undergoing a significant transformation from industrial to mixed use with the proposed Green Square Civic Centre at its heart.

The existing 6 hectare site is filled with an architecturally diverse range of industrial warehouse buildings.  The building on the corner of Bourke Road and Huntley Street has a simple dark brick façade with a saw-tooth roof profile.  With the client seeking to transform this building into retail/showroom on the ground floor with commercial suites above (effectively doubling the floorspace) another storey was required.

The addition is built on top of the sawtooth profile to maintain this feature of the original building. A different material is proposed such as perforated rusted steel or a light-weight semi-transparent plastic sheet.  The new façade will allow light into the offices but also self shade.  The profile of the two distinct materials coming together retains the original roof profile in a graphic sense and resembles huge jaws running the length of the facade.