LONG FORM TEXT
Delivering world-class STEAM facilities to Far North Queensland Students.
Whitsunday Anglican School (WAS), is a K-12 Independent School situated in the regional Queensland Town of Mackay. Mackay is a coastal city of approximately 90,000 people servicing significant natural resource industries. A key strategy for the School is to connect teachers and students with Industry, thereby exposing them to the relevance of STEAM subjects in everyday life.
The recently completed STEAM Centre serves as a cornerstone in the delivery of this strategy. Located in the middle of campus, the Centre is at the heart of the STEAM precinct and connects the junior school through to the senior school while establishing a site vernacular that epitomises the pedagogical direction of WAS well into the future.
The design was informed by leading architectural and education research established through a partnership between WAS, BSPN and the University of Melbourne.
The new STEAM precinct now offers a range of formal and informal spaces that support the full spectrum of teacher pedagogies and student learning experiences. The design has delivered a Maker Space, an open Forum area, indoor and outdoor learning commons, Science Laboratories and spaces for extended experimental investigations, a preparation room, staff room, a greenhouse, flexible learning areas and The Drum – a collaboration space.
These bespoke and responsive learning spaces provide teachers with greater pedagogical freedom. Unlike traditional science laboratories, the variety of digital, physical and spatial technologies throughout the Centre will mean that multiple subject areas will be catered for within its footprint. The Centre promotes creativity, contemplation and flexibility by allowing for multiple purposes concurrently, enabling students to undertake a range of activities and communities of learning that extend from individual through to mixed class and age.
The upper level of the new STEAM building is connected to the existing library creating an internal forum area with tiered seating.
The glazing to the building perimeter is shielded by an expansive perforated environmental weather screen that mediates light intrusion to the laboratories while also providing an element of protection against cyclonic debris.
