The physical response to Waverley Christian College’s 2019 masterplan, William Ross Architects’ recently completed Primary Wing for the college embodies the aims of the plan and is tailor made for modern pedagogy.
Acting as the gateway to the college’s main Wantirna South campus, the building comprises an indoor/outdoor cafeteria and adjoining food tech spaces, as well as two levels of general learning areas, breakout spaces, staff amenities and workspaces. Spanning three levels, the building sits within a similar footprint to its predecessor, in order to maximise external space for students.
The ground floor’s footprint recesses inwards to provide canopy cover from the elements while increasing outdoor area. The ground floor houses the reception and interview room and is intentionally separated from the cafe, kitchen and food tech spaces by a large corridor to ensure students can pass through towards other facilities.
The cafe sits at the building’s east end, with operable sliders opening out to a shaded courtyard. The recessed nature of the ground floor ensures a large gum tree has been retained and that it does not overstep its boundaries in the direction of the adjacent performing arts centre.
Six new general learning area (GLA) classrooms are located on the second level, as are two seminar rooms which run off a wide circulation corridor which contains shared breakout spaces, lockers and built-in bench seating. The third level consists of staff offices, amenities and a staff lounge.
