First look inside Brisbane Grammar School’s cutting-edge science precinct

Queensland most expensive private school has unveiled a new cutting-edge six-storey science building that been in the works for more than a decade. FIRST LOOK

The new STEAM Precinct at Brisbane Grammar School will be officially opened on Friday, February 23. Photo: Supplied.

One of the state’s top schools has raised the bar for its rivals with the opening of a new $70m cutting-edge science building which was developed and built over a decade.

Brisbane Grammar School cut the ribbon on its STEAM precinct on Friday afternoon – a six-storey building combining science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

The transparent learning hub is partly inspired by Manhattan high-rise schools as well as Stanford University in the United States.

It was built where the two previous science buildings, which dated back to the 1950s, once stood, and also consumed old classroom and maintenance buildings during construction.

The new STEAM Precinct at Brisbane Grammar School will be officially opened on Friday, February 23. Picture: Supplied.

The building includes 15 university-standard laboratories, art studios, a 300-seat auditorium with space for the likes of robot competitions, three overhanging learning pods, as well as interchangeable physics, chemistry, mathematics, technology, design and art classrooms.

Deputy headmaster Steve Uscinski spent an entire term in 2015 on a research trip to the United States to understand STEM learning through a creative arts lens.

“This really has been a labour of love,” he said.

“The headmaster and I first started talking about this in 2013 and it wasn’t just about replacing the old with a newer version, we really wanted to plan for the future of learning and set ourselves up to help our students solve the problems of the future.

“We’re really proud of what we have achieved, to have a learning space that really puts the student experience at the forefront is quite special.”

The new STEAM Precinct at Brisbane Grammar School will be officially opened on Friday, February 23. Picture: Supplied.

Headmaster Anthony Micallef said the precinct allows students to do designing and prototyping, 3D printing, complex biological dissections, and earth science studies.

“For educators, there is now a greater need for STEM concepts to integrate with subjects across the wider curriculum,” he said.

“STEAM is more than hi-tech facilities and scientific equipment, it’s a shift in the way the school thinks about teaching, learning and preparing our students for an unknown future.”

The precinct was designed by Hamilton Wilson and his Brisbane-based firm Wilson Architects and built by Besix WATPAC.