Size does matter: School sues architect over netball court

An independent Queensland school is suing a firm of architects for negligence claiming they designed a netball court which is too small.

St James Lutheran School and Hervey Bay Christian Academy at Urraween

An independent Queensland school is suing a firm of architects for negligence, claiming they designed a netball court which is too small, alleging they told them they wanted one which could host official games.

St James Lutheran College in Urraween, Hervey Bay, has sued Parups Waring Architects in the Brisbane Supreme Court over the work performed by the firm in 2014-15.

The college argues that netball court lacked sufficient sideline clearance required to allow the court to host official netball club games.

The netball court was part of a larger covered sports area.

Details of the claim for breach of contract, negligence and for misleading or deceptive conduct were revealed by Justice Lincoln Crowley in a pre-trial decision handed down on September 26 and published online by the court on Tuesday.

Aerial imagery by Nearmap shows dramatic changes in the past 10 years to St James Lutheran College, and other Fraser Coast Schools.

In that ruling, Justice Crowley ordered that the lawsuit had not been stayed, or frozen, due to lack of progress in the case in the past two years.

Justice Crowley stated that a key matter at issue was whether the college instructed the architectural firm that the netball court was to be able to host official games.

The school alleges, and Parups Waring denies, that in early 2014 the school gave a verbal

instruction to the architect that the court was to be used for official games.

Parups Waring was hired to design and project-manage the construction of a multipurpose classroom and sports structure, referred to as the covered outdoor learning area, the decision states.

The claim was filed in March 2019 and Parups Waring filed their defence in May 2019, but since then the case has become bogged down in pre-trial disclosure and obtaining expert evidence and lay evidence.

In June the college formally served an expert report it commissioned from architect Eric Hebron on lawyers for Parups Waring.

Justice Crowley ordered the school and the architects to take part in mediation by March 17 next year, and to sign and file a request for a trial date on or before April 14.