ClarkeHopkinsClarke completed stage 2 of Beaumaris Secondary College located in Melbourne, Australia.

The new Beaumaris Secondary College opened its doors in February 2018, and by 2021 the school had already exceeded capacity, with the initial cohort of Year 7 learners yet to reach VCE. The Stage 2 works were initiated to enable the continued growth in enrollments, with the brief seeking to provide additional general, creative and technical learning spaces to accommodate a further 450 students, and to explore how the learning environments could evolve to support the needs of senior learners.

The Stage 2 project is an embodiment of the growth, values and aspirations of the Beaumaris Secondary College community. This purposeful extension across two key buildings plus landscaping works, delivers learning environments that celebrate diversity, community and a treasured connection to nature whilst supporting the school’s evolution to senior learning.

The project brief for Stage 2 required that the design provide a sense of continuity and seamless flow of space from Stage 1 into Stage 2. The 3-storey extension to the existing Learning Hub ensures a continuous flow of specialist learning at ground level, providing new art, design and technology spaces plus a refit of an existing art space into science learning to better align with the reconfigured zoning of specialist disciplines. The levels above feature general learning spaces across both levels, and a senior student lounge with outdoor learning deck at level two. The built form wraps around a large existing liquid amber tree, creating a nurturing oasis that celebrates the tree as a gathering place and important element of this community’s identity. At the building’s heart, a central rainbow stair links all levels and acts as a welcoming beacon of inclusivity and acceptance.

Stage 2 also delivered a single level extension to the existing Activity Centre, providing additional food tech learning capacity and a sheltered outdoor dining deck, plus an informal outdoor amphitheatre to the existing wetlands that adds a new dimension of learning to the established sustainability program and encourages a stronger connection with place.

Design: ClarkeHopkinsClarke
Photography: Rhiannon Slatter