Aquinas College lodges plan for $1.2 million study hub

A North Adelaide college wants to be build a modern-looking study hub near some of the state’s most renowned heritage-listed buildings.

An artist impression of the new building at Aquinas College, which would be built inside the college grounds.

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A North Adelaide college wants to build a modern $1.2 million study hub among its heritage-listed buildings.

Aquinas College has applied to Adelaide City Council’s assessment panel to erect the two-storey building, with 10 parking spaces underneath, on the site of a current carpark on Palmer Place.

It would share the campus with the state heritage-listed Montefiore and Roche houses, and Gleeson and Marcellin houses, which have local heritage listing.

The building would provide a study space for the growing number of students choosing to study externally.

Roche House on the campus of Aquinas College in North Adelaide. The new building would go behind it.

A map showing the location where Aquinas College's proposed new building would go.

Jane Walkley, who lives in the state heritage-listed Walkley House next to the college, wrote to the panel opposing the development.

“The bulky form, which lacks articulation, along with the selected materials and applied finishes, does not appear to respond to either of the neighbouring buildings,” Ms Walkley wrote.

“I … request council to seek a more contextual and sensitive design response that allows Aquinas College to meet their community needs, while reinforcing the heritage values of the area.”

The council’s development plan says the area “should be conserved as one of the most attractive and historically significant residential areas in the city”.

Montefiore House, former residence of Chief Justice Samuel Way, at the college’s front.

“In this instance the proposed building is set back from frontages to public streets and is mostly obscured by existing surrounding buildings and there is little visibility external to the site,” a report to the panel said.

“I think (the building) fits rather neatly into our campus and into the fabric of North Adelaide.”

The State Heritage Unit supports the development because it is set back enough to not have an impact on neighbouring properties.

The Friends and Residents of North Adelaide spokesman Valdis Dunis said the design was “shockingly dramatic”, but liked how the building had been set back.

“I can expect there will be many (people) requesting to have it more in sympathy with its neighbouring buildings,” Mr Dunis said.

The application will be assessed on Monday, November 25.