SPACES AND PLACES YOU WIL LOVE
The design process began with a deliberate act of preservation. Rather than treating the project as a blank slate, we saw the existing kindergarten as a layered palimpsest — one that carried the traces of its long community life. Central to the design was the retention and celebration of key heritage features: the original red brick walls, the expressed timber roof structure, and the simple, familiar gabled roofline. These elements have been carefully restored, with new insertions designed to sit in respectful dialogue rather than compete for attention.
The existing clerestory glazing — long a source of daylight and natural ventilation — was reinterpreted as a defining spatial gesture in the rebuilt volume. High-level windows flood the interior with soft, even light, reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day, while framing borrowed views of the surrounding gum trees. This maintains a sense of connection to the natural setting and supports the kindergarten’s emphasis on outdoor learning.
Material selection was guided by three imperatives: durability, sustainability, and sensory richness for children. Locally sourced, sustainably certified timbers were used extensively for flooring, decking, and joinery, chosen for their warmth, resilience, and capacity to age gracefully under constant use. Brickwork was retained and left exposed where possible, its tactile surface grounding the new architecture in the building’s history. Natural linoleum and low-VOC finishes were applied internally to ensure healthy indoor air quality, essential for young occupants.
Outdoor spaces were approached as an equal partner to the interior. A timber-decked verandah wraps the new façade, providing a sheltered threshold between inside and outside, and enabling learning and play to spill into the landscape in all seasons. Deep eaves and timber pergolas extend shade and weather protection, creating microclimates that respond to the rhythm of the day and year.
Services upgrades were integrated with minimal disruption to the existing fabric. Passive environmental strategies — deep eaves, operable clerestory windows, cross ventilation, and thermal mass from retained brick walls — form the backbone of the building’s environmental performance. These are supplemented by active systems including a solar PV array on the north-facing roof, high-performance double glazing, ceiling fans, and reverse-cycle heating and cooling, ensuring year-round comfort with low energy demand. Electrical and plumbing systems were modernised and discreetly threaded through the building to preserve the integrity of the original structure