Hames Sharley strayed away from the traditional classroom to provide a more flexible layout for Victor Harbor Senior High School located in Adelaide, Australia.

Located 80km south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula, Victor Harbor High School is the first state high school to comprehensively employ principles of personalised learning into the design of its senior school campus. The formality of the traditional classroom is replaced with a more open, socially interactive, wireless technology environment comprising of flexible spaces, student commons, learning streets, courtyards and piazzas. The learning environment will be one where students and teachers can socialise, exchange thoughts and ideas and acquire information either sitting at a desk, lounging on a sofa, on the carpet or on a bench under a tree.

As the social and economic benefits of ensuring that no student is left behind become obvious, the teacher’s classroom is giving way to an information ubiquitous, multi-faceted learning environment tuned to address the needs of each individual student. The Information Revolution and student-centred approach to learning are replacing the traditional ‘Henry Ford production-line’ method of teaching.

The driver of this new approach is a flexible, open learning philosophy where a more collaborative environment encourages cross communication between students and teachers alike. Technology forms a key part of this approach, with teaching methods shifting from paper-based learning to computers, wireless networks and digital IT information transfer.

Architect: Hames Sharley
Photography: courtesy of Hames Sharley