Harbord Public School is at the top of the class with agile and adaptable classrooms, breakout spaces and multipurpose areas.
May 1st, 2017
Creativity, play, collaboration and the desire for more holistic environments are not only being embraced in our workplaces, but also in our schools. Contemporary pedagogy has seen a shift from teacher-focused learning to team teaching, project-based learning and collaborative teaching. In addition, a greater reliance on technology means students and teachers have more flexibility – no longer restricted to a blackboard at the front of the classroom – and schools require more adaptable teaching and working environments. This has driven the need for innovation in school design, and Harbord Public School, a primary school on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, is one such school that is sitting up and paying attention.
Designed by the NSW Government Architects Office (prior to its closure in 2016), a three-storey building now replaces 19 demountable classrooms. Outside, this allows for larger outdoor areas for play and learning. Inside, there is an emphasis on openness and visual connection, and individual classrooms have multi-stacking glass doors that mean they can be opened to each other and to generous multifunctional rooms for collaboration and a more holistic environment.
Each floor of the new building is defined by a different colour scheme: green, orange and yellow, which are a means of differentiating year groups, individualising areas and encouraging ‘ownership’ by students and staff, as well as assisting in wayfinding.
Business Interiors sourced the more eye catching half of the furniture in the space from Norva Nivel, and fitted out each space individually, veering away for the traditional format and furnishings of a classroom. Breakout spaces, readings nooks and lounging areas are furnished with a variety of seating and tables that can be used by students and teachers for more creative ways of learning, including low-to-the-ground Grassy Domes and Crash Matts for more informal activities, and Campfire Booths, Plektrum Tables and Seed tables and ottomans for more formal and collaborative activities
“The teaching staff were delighted at the flexibility in their new classrooms, and all the different and innovative learning environments in contrast to traditional classrooms,” says Verity Osborne of Business Interiors
Harbord Public School now allows for new methods of teaching and learning in an agile and adaptable space that encourages creativity, activity and collaboration, just like any modern workplace.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Join us behind the scenes with V-ZUG’s in-house design team, and discover how this Swiss boutique kitchen manufacturer balances art, science and history to create its pioneering Excellence line.
The workplace has changed – and it will continue to evolve. With dynamism at the heart of clients’ requirements, architects and designers at leading practices such as Elenberg Fraser are using and recommending Herman Miller’s OE1 products for the future workplace.
In the bid to balance the desire to live amongst nature with the modest footprint of today’s homes, designer Victoria Azadinho Bocconi looks for inspiration in the depths of the Amazon jungle.
Bidding farewell to mundane and uninspired office spaces, colour has transformed our workplaces into layered and engaging environments. So we sit down with Karina Simpson, Hot Black’s Workplace Lead, to talk about the influence colour has on the workspace landscape through the prism of Herman Miller’s progressive colour philosophy.
Electrolux has revealed the 35 semi-finalists of its 13h annual Design Lab competition.
Zenith Queensland held a Be launch at the Old Museum on Wednesday 1 December. Over 150 guests flocked to see the BEATLEGS perform live Beatles covers and hear Mark Pennington from Formway NZ discuss his design philosophy.
Building more flexible workplaces won’t just attract more women into construction, says researcher Natalie Galea. It will also help men to strip away the “straitjacket of masculinity” that is undermining the mental health and relationships of workers across the industry.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
The idea behind ubiquitous inclusivity is undoubtedly an appealing one, which is why universal and accessible design principles have been gaining so much traction in recent years. Here, two renowned design experts weigh in on utilising these principles to create accessible bathrooms – and share the design thinking underpinning the process.
As publicans, ARK Group understood the role of the country or corner pub and its value within a township. Working with Woods Bagot, a new venue has found life in the building’s heritage.
Entries for the Gaggenau Kitchen of the Year close on April 30!
Ostensibly an industrial design consultancy, Tilt was born of the observation of an increasing gap between architectural ambition and construction capability. The skill set lies in facilitating the inherently creative bent of architects, landscape architects and artists with engineering and industrial design solutions.