St Monica’s Parish School
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The landscape design for upgrades at St Monica’s Parish School in Adelaide’s inner north maximises activation within the school’s existing footprint.
Spiire’s Adelaide Landscape Architecture team was engaged to support a package of upgrades to this established primary school in Walkerville.
Working in collaboration with the lead consultant, architect Brown Falconer, our team provided the landscape design development and documentation to complement the architectural masterplan, which included a new covered outdoor learning area (COLA) and classroom upgrades.
The transformation of key outdoor spaces was staged to limit the impact on the school’s operations. In Stage 1B, which covers an area including the main drop-off point, the former sports courts were re-imagined as a multi-functional outdoor space. It now includes a lawn area, tiered seating for outdoor learning and handball courts.
Our landscape architects carefully designed this new space to integrate with existing features, such as the retained play equipment and vegetable planters that have been centred within a nature area.
Its interaction with nearby buildings, including the library and an upgraded classroom block, also influenced the design. A walkway along one edge was re-built to bring more sunlight and planting into the locker space.
In the school’s former lawn area, the new covered outdoor learning area and multi‑function sports court are now complete. Our landscape architects designed the multi-function sports court to serve several purposes, providing for basketball, netball, soccer and handball games within the one space.
Engagement with the school’s needs helped guide the design process, driving key elements including the vibrant colour palette applied to the sports surfaces throughout, ensuring flexibility and multifunctionality of the spaces, and the prominence of handball courts as a favoured activity.
Our local landscape architects also provided construction support for Brown Falconer on the landscape elements of the design, working with main contractor Cook Building and landscape contractor Adelaide Landscape Construction. With construction complete, students are now enjoying the new facilities and this new chapter in the school’s evolution.
Image supplied by Cook Building.
