The Lindfield Learning Village located in Sydney’s leafy Northern Suburbs involves the refurbishment of the former UTS Ku-ring-gai Campus in Lindfield and converting it into a revolutionary new state school, built and refurbished for the NSW Department of Education. Initially, following stage 1 works, the school caters for 350 students from Kindergarten through to Year 12 of what will eventually be a cohort of 2000.
The project initially commenced as an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) which led to an agreed Construction Management contract with a seven month programme reduced to five months following requirements from the RFS in the SSD conditions that had to be met to satisfy the approval.
Division
Refurbishment & Live Environments
Client
School Infrastructure NSW
Location
Lindfield, NSW
Value
$55.4 million
Status
Completed July 2019
The new school adopts a unique approach to teaching whereby students advance based on their progress rather than their age. Older students are encouraged to mentor younger ones and students take responsibility for their own learning.
The development is positioned on a sloping site with the main entry having direct on grade access to level 5. Stage 1, referred to as the ‘Partial School’, involved alterations and additions to parts of levels 3 to 7. These works comprised a series of 13 classrooms, workspaces, woodwork and science rooms as well as ancillary canteen, student assembly areas, administration offices and kitchens.
Outdoor play areas were also constructed in the central courtyard and around the perimeter of the facility.
The construction of a new 30m pool included concourse finishes, selected wall finishes and ceiling finishes.
The central Performance Theatre Auditorium is a special feature of the village used as an assembly area and learning space. This building is also available after-hours and on the weekends for external performance hire by nearby schools and colleges.
An important project consideration for the client was to ensure that the works were successfully completed prior to Term 1, 2019 before the students returned to school in the new year.
