Albany Junior High School

This new co-ed school caters for 1400 pupils, years 7-10 and represents a new direction in education, replacing the traditional two year Intermediate School with a broader four year model.

An ‘integrated learning’ concept was adopted, co-locating five core whänau facilities with specialised knowledge areas. Community-like facilities such as administration, staff lounge / workroom, library, and Performing Arts Centre are housed in a building located at the heart of the school immediately adjacent the formal entry. The gymnasium is located to the northwest of the sports fields, adjoining the hard surface courts.

Each whänau core accommodates around 280 students and consists primarily of six full-size classrooms adjacent to a large two-storey gathering space. These classrooms generally face south towards the sports fields, and overlook landscaped areas. The whänau gathering space opens to the north, to a hard-paved landscaped court characterised by the adjacent knowledge area.

Four additional classrooms are located in a wing adjacent to each whänau core. Some of these spaces are specialised teaching spaces that are able to accommodate students in an unsupervised manner. Where this is not possible because of health and safety reasons, additional general classrooms have been provided. Five ‘knowledge areas’ have been identified, including Workshop Technology, Art, Science, Food / Textile Technology and Music. This stage of the project was completed in 2006.

The design of the whole school incorporated significant ‘green’ design principals including: mechanical systems introducing increased fresh air for a better learning environment; rainwater management and storage for irrigation and toilet flushing, solar control and increased insulation.

The design of the Music Suite completed as part of stage two in 2009 maintains the architectural language of the Performing Arts Centre and whanau blocks. It provides the school with dedicated music studios, keyboard computer rooms, practice rooms and associated workroom.

In addition, a double height multipurpose space provides an environment consistent with the larger adjacent Performing Arts Centre but on a more intimate scale. Catering for smaller groups and providing practice facilities enables the multipurpose space to meet a key need within the school environment.

Introduction of high level glazing enables the roof plain to ‘float’ free of the precast mass below. High level glazing ensures natural light is optimised while achieving extensive areas of acoustically treated wall surfaces.

The south elevation provides a dramatic counter to the precast rigor established by the performing arts building form. Here, practice rooms articulated by vibrant orange angled walls optimise interior acoustic performance and engage across an established landscape court to an otherwise monochromatic environment.