The Junior Learning Hub at Box Hill North Primary School is an adaptable and environmentally responsive addition that supports pedagogical needs while fortifying a strong sense of place.
March 13th, 2025
The Junior Learning Hub at Box Hill North Primary School, designed by Sibling Architecture in collaboration with the school community, responds to context and pedagogy, amalgamating material, spatial and environmental strategies to improve the learning experience. The result is “a much-needed expansion of their current facilities, increasing the number of classrooms available for students by eight along with dedicated staff workspaces,” shares Alice Edmonds, Project Architect at Sibling Architecture, and Nicholas Braun, Director at Sibling Architecture.
Referring to surrounding local vernacular as precedent, Sibling Architecture “considered the site context, with the building’s façade responding to the local forms of the surrounding neighbourhood,” add Edmonds and Braun. Internally, the interiors were lacquered with colours to evoke conviviality and ebullience for the young students.
The addition to the school provides a much-needed expansion of facilities, increasing adaptability and capacity, through increasing the number of classrooms by eight that are available to students and staff. The project is designed to maximise flexibility by introducing adaptable spaces that can be reconfigured via operable walls to meet the oscillating needs of the school.
The corridor spaces, meanwhile, can double as usable spaces for an array of activities, rather than solely being restricted to circulation. This includes quiet study areas, group learning spaces and connections to outdoor play areas, providing students with a range of different environments to fortify their learning and reducing the need for break-out zones. The overall intention was to encourage teachers to create bespoke, dynamic learning environments that can be easily adapted.
Related: fjcstudio’s multi-award-wining school
The landscape design increases campus connectivity, with dual key entry points anchoring movement and gathering spaces. “The western entry is co-located with the adjacent Kindergarten and acts to connect and forge new relationships with the two separate but co-located facilities. Native planting acts to soften the grounds and reference the local creek and its endemic species,” note Edmonds and Braun.
Another pillar to the design was the incorporation of sustainable practices, with high-efficiency HVAC systems, energy-saving lighting and durable materials reducing environmental impact. A rainwater collection system supports the adjacent kindergarten’s productive garden, reinforcing the commitment to Recycling initiatives to further embed environmental awareness into the learning environment. “The school is committed to promoting a sustainable future and has implemented measures to encourage students to be environmentally conscious,” conclude Edmonds and Braun.
Sibling Architecture
siblingarchitecture.com
More school design from Sibling Architecture at Aireys Inlet
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!
Elevate any space with statement lighting to illuminate and inspire.
Schneider Electric’s new range are making bulky outlets a thing of the past with the new UNICA X collection.
In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.
Within the intimate confines of compact living, where space is at a premium, efficiency is critical and dining out often trumps home cooking, Gaggenau’s 400 Series Culinary Drawer proves that limited space can, in fact, unlock unlimited culinary possibilities.
As an entry to The Multi-Residential Building category at the 2024 INDE.Awards, NH Architecture and Bird de la Coeur Architects have achieved an exemplary outcome with a project that addresses the challenges of social and affordable housing.
The brief for the Ray White boutique in Rose Bay required the esteemed studio to think outside the intimately sized box, creating a design where every detail counts.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Effortless design and Italian craftsmanship – Billiani is renowned for its refined timber furniture, where simplicity of form is married with exquisite materiality.
GH Commercial’s custom flooring solutions can bring the most creative ideas into reality, as seen at PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival.