A tight budget was no obstacle to a multi-functional new recreation hall designed for Northern Beaches Christian School by Jones Sonter Architects.
December 14th, 2011
To meet the needs of a growing primary and secondary school, Sydney-based architecture firm Jones Sonter were brought on board to create a multipurpose hall that served the school’s students as well as creating opportunities for expansion.

The concept developed by Jones Sonter elevates the main hall floor, maximising the use of the core building and providing potential for additional learning spaces.
A grand stair and stepped seating were designed at the entry to the building. By extending the roof over this space an external shaded assembly was created, offering a variety of functions – a seating area, outdoor assembly space, theatre stage, grandstand and striking entryway to the hall.


The interior of the main hall houses a sports floor, 2 levels of viewing floors, amenities and a gymnasium for senior students and staff.

Capitalising on the location of the site and maximising the benefits of ocean breezes, the hall was designed with low and high level windows to allow for cross ventilation at floor level and natural discharge of warm air at ceiling level. The windows also afford plenty of natural light, further helping to reduce energy consumption.
Jones Sonter’s design for future expansion proved an immediate success – prior to the completion of the main building programme, it was decided that the undercroft area would house new student learning spaces for design technology.

Jones Sonter
jonesonter.com.au
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
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!
Blending versatile cooking with smart performance, Bosch AccentLine appliances bring a quieter sense of order and simplicity to the modern kitchen.
Stepping into Intuit’s Sydney workplace certainly doesn’t feel like walking into an office. Why? In this film, we discover that, when joy takes precedence as a design driver, even a high-performing commercial CBD headquarters can feel like an intuitive wonderland that invites employees to choose their own adventure.
In the last instalment of our three-part performance seating series, Alex Bain from Architectus explains why sitting well shouldn’t feel like sitting at all and explores an unexpected success metric of the hybrid workplace: the grounding power of emotional support.
In the second instalment of our performance seating three-parter, we turn to DKO’s Michael Drescher and Jacob Olsen to peek behind Sayl’s confident architectural form and explore the ideas of inclusivity, adaptability and freedom to move as hallmarks of what sitting your best actually means.
Every month Raj Nandan, Indesign’s Founder and Publisher, will be wrapping up the various happenings and big news items that have hit the industry. It’s a curation of things from both us, and our industry friends, so you’ll never miss a beat again…
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
For Libertine Parfumerie’s new Armadale boutique, Tamsin Johnson looked to the warmth of the home and the rhythm of old-world shopfronts to make fragrance retail feel slower, richer and more personal.
Fast becoming the coolest global design event, Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign saw a number of standout product releases.