Revealed: 25-year vision to transform elite Brisbane school

One of Brisbane’s most prestigious private schools will undergo its biggest ever transformation with a massive master plan of projects to span 25 years. SEE THE PLANS

What BBC would like from above once the plans are completed.

Brisbane Boys' College (BBC) will undergo its biggest transformation with a master plan that includes over 40 new projects, The Courier-Mail can exclusively reveal.

New tennis courts, a college museum, rowing sheds, a boarding house courtyard, staff hubs, sports complex, library expansions and new buildings are just some of the major projects set to be finished at BBC between now and 2050.

BBC Headmaster Andre Casson said the new master plan for the school had been in the works since the end of 2022.

“The reason for that is that we wanted to be really consultative with our vision for the college,” he said.

Library expansion at BBC. Supplied

Rowing sheds at BBC. Supplied

Mr Casson said old boys, current students and staff and parents had all been involved in the planning process.

“It provides us with a vision that means we are going to be able to future proof the school for hopefully the next 122 years,” he said.

The small to medium sized projects which have officially started include the reshaping of the middle school precinct, prototype classrooms, the refurbishment of the dining hall of boarding houses, tennis courts, and more, Mr Casson said.

One of the prototype classrooms. Pic: Supplied.

“We’ll be looking at the first big projects probably in the next 18 to 24 months.”

Mr Casson said the “prototype classrooms” were to put students and teachers in to see what they “loved and hated”.

“So the prototype classrooms recycle an old classroom block that we’ve gutted and put in six different, distinct teaching spaces with different furniture, different AV materials,” he said.

“We will then use that information when we actually do our first big, major build so we’re not doing something that we think’s good idea, we’re doing something that our community thinks is a good idea.”

A new classroom. Pic: Supplied.

Mr Casson said major parts of the refurbishment would include Goldicott Hill Learning and Function Centre, the “fairly big expansion” to the Barbara Helen Thomson Sports Complex and the High-Performance Sports and Aquatics Centre.

“Once we get one of those projects done, we can start decanting students and staff out of different areas, and have them moving around the campus to or after the next project,” he said.

Projects on the BBC campus.

Asked about the cost of the plan, Mr Casson said it was “an expensive proposition”.

Mr Casson described the new master plan as “transformative”.

“It’s a 25-year vision. It’s not something that will be all done tomorrow,” he said.

With such a big master plan, Mr Casson said while it would be an inconvenience, they would manage students and staff efficiently by moving them to other areas while construction was underway.

“The fortunate thing that we have here at BBC, we are a fairly large campus, despite the fact being quite close to the city,” he said.

“So when we do the middle school precinct, we just move the boys from that area down to one of the other levels.”

Middle school landscaping at BBC

Mr Casson said they couldn’t guarantee when certain projects would finish, but by the end of it the school would have a “BBC feel to it”.

“The really important thing for us, and the complete focus is that we are looking at building a campus that is going to have boys at the very centre of it we are built for boys. So we’re looking at providing collaborative spaces for the boys.”

BBC project 1-10 are already underway with 33 more to go between now and 2050

Mr Casson said when he began in the position in 2022, he knew the master plan would be a requirement of his role.

“There was three things that I knew coming in. One was to make sure that we’ve got robust business plans. They weren’t there in the past, but you’ve got to have a good, strong business plan when you come into a school.”

“Second thing I need to do is to put in place our strategic vision for the next five years. The third thing was to do the master plan.”

One of the prototype classrooms. Supplied.

Originally published as Revealed: 25-year vision to transform elite Brisbane school