From the architect:
This new purpose-built facility for St Bernard’s College for boys sits in a prominent location, located at the front entrance to the school and can be seen from the streets, whilst partially sunken into the landscape.
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/3e8db1d8-ac78-4841-a8c5-22247309afb1/st-bernards-college-1.aspx)
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/e14cda80-4205-4b11-b6c2-8f24d3bc7b38/st-bernards-college-2.aspx)
St Bernard’s College prides itself on teaching boys, and the design for the new facility provides a suitable environment for this function. It provides the right level of robustness and transparency.
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/f9dc246b-7f36-4db5-a7b4-af0211de7f7f/st-bernards-college-4.aspx)
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/4a539324-1208-4c01-8e54-1eb9f5bcc238/st-bernards-college-5.aspx)
Architecturally the building is a simple box-like form, inserted into the hillside. The building features a central internal amphitheatre space. It features tiered seating connecting levels 1 to 2, which can accommodate a whole level cohort (up to 280 students). The building has been designed with flexibility in mind, so the space can accommodate a range of functions.
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/eaffac13-b58c-4886-8ce3-fca312011691/st-bernards-college-3.aspx)
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/cf7e3214-e145-493c-bd8c-87712266e7d0/st-bernards-college-6.aspx)
The building form is a two storey white-rendered box with angled reveals to the windows, sitting atop a single storey brick-clad base, which grounds the building into the concrete hard landscaping. The building features angled pop-out window bays.
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/130f5c74-1596-4c93-8611-c92fb183da4e/st-bernards-college-7.aspx)
![st bernards college baldasso cortese](/getmedia/a4d9b8c8-7145-4e91-b2cd-46fdc276f033/st-bernards-college-8.aspx)
Internally the material palette contrasts with the crisp external material palette, as warmer materials come into play, assisting with acoustics and presenting a more appropriate teaching environment. Timber features as the balustrading of the amphitheatre. Acoustic baffles hang from the ceiling also clad in perforated timber, like upturned pyramids, or “stalactites.”