Whitsunday Anglican School’s $12m STEAM centre building wins award

A North Queensland private school has won the Building of the Year award for a newly constructed school building that the judges called “visionary”. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTOS.

Whitsunday Anglican School new STEAM centre building has won the Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Building of the Year award. Photo: Scott Burrows

A North Queensland private school has received national attention after winning the Building of the Year award for its “empowering” new school facility.

Whitsunday Anglican School, which was recently ranked the 11th best school in Queensland, $12 million STEAM centre was declared the Building of the Year by judges from the Australian Institute of Architects, for its “visionary” design philosophy.

The building was designed through a partnership between the school, BSPN Architecture firm and the University of Melbourne to “foster creativity and flexibility” in both students and teachers.

One of the aims for BSPN Architecture was to integrate the building into the pre-existing layout ‘seamlessly’. Photo: Scott Burrows

BSPN Architect and project lead Bretton Watson attributed the building’s success to the clear vision of Whitsunday Anglican School.

“It was about creating a new direction,” Mr Watson said.

“Trying to get away from single classrooms and get to collaborative, not just being in classes of 30 but smaller groups in more collaborative areas.”

Mr Watson also lauded the work of contractors FERGUS Builders for their execution of the design.

The building houses new classrooms, a library and lounge areas. Photo: Scott Burrows

The new building will serve as the centrepoint of what BSPN and Whitsunday Anglican envision as a “revitalised” campus.

“We’ve already done a masterplan for 2030 – 2040 for the school, it’s a large, aspirational masterplan,” Mr Watson said.

Mr Watson revealed that BSPN and Whitsunday Anglican were already looking at their next project, the school’s junior campus.

The new building acts as the beginning of a “masterplan to revitalise the campus”. Photo: Scott Burrows

A Whitsunday Anglican School spokesman said that the completed STEAM centre represented a “whole-staff” journey towards providing a better learning environment for their students.

Originally published as Whitsunday Anglican School’s $12m STEAM centre building wins award