Leading southside Catholic secondary school unveils massive upgrade plans
One of Brisbane’s best and oldest Catholic boys’ schools has unveiled plans for an upgrade including an aquatic centre, strings area, new classrooms and centre of excellence. SEE THE PLANS
Southeast
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St Laurence’s College in South Brisbane has lodged an application with the State Government for a massive, six-stage demolition and renewal program potentially including a new aquatic centre, classrooms and centre of excellence.
Stage one involved 26,000 sqm of classrooms, library, music rehearsal area, a home base for seniors and a centre of excellence.
No demolition was needed for stage one, which was expected to be finished sometime before 2026, depending on approvals and other factors.
Designed by Macksey Rush Architects, a masterplan has been lodged with the Planning Department under the Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) process, which bypasses Council rules.
The masterplan included demolition of an existing library, cafe, staff carparking area and removal of demountables.
Other minor demolition would take place over the following five stages.
The proposed buildings would be up to six levels, but landscaped to minimise their visual impact on neighbours.
Stage two would begin in five years, or possibly as late as 2032, and replace the library with about 26,000 sqm of staff areas and a cafe. The strings demountable would need to be removed.
Stage three, an extension of a 29,000 sqm learning centre, 400-seat auditorium, drama rooms and school shop, would also be built somewhere between 2027 and 2032.
An aquatic centre was proposed, with a possible 50m pool, kiosk, function deck and change/pump rooms, but was slated for well down the track.
Work would not start on that stage until an unknown time after the Olympics in 2032.
A five-level classroom building with change rooms, equipment store and linking bridge was envisioned for some point after the Games, as was a new central play space.
Town planners Place Design Group said in the MID documents that there was an “immediate and urgent need’’ to revitalise the campus, which caters for secondary-level boys.
The college dates back to 1915 and wanted to take the school into the future with modern and larger facilities to cope with growth in enrolments.
“The proposed development reflects the relevant assessment benchmarks of the state and Council and therefore is deemed to align with the community’s expectations for the subject site,” Place Design Group wrote.
“Lauries’’ is the latest in a string of private schools to lodge MIDs including St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School in Corinda, St Joseph’s College - Gregory Terrace (“Terrace’’) in Spring Hill and Stuartholme School in Toowong.
Terrace lodged a scaled-back version in April after concerns from some neighbours about traffic, street parking and other issues.
Dozens of state schools have also used the MID process to lodge expansion plans in recent times, most recently Wishart State School on the southside.
More information on the Government’s MID page, search for application MID-0422-0598
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