The new Caloundra City School Library, named after one of Australia’s most prolific philanthropists as part of Caloundra City School’s “living legend” buildings, the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Library, was recently refurbished to make the teaching of information literacy as enticing as possible to students. Using the Escura Smooth Face External Bricks line from Boral Bricks, a building was created that not only complemented the surrounding environment, but also presented a modern space equipped with plasma television screens, oversized keyboards, vibrant colours and a cafe-style design to enhance student learning.
Caloundra City School, an independent P-12 school, is at the forefront of innovative education with the integration of technology and the development of technological skills through students’ use of personal tablet laptop computers from Year 5 upwards. “This gives students tremendous advantages and prepares them well for the future,” says school principal Mrs. Karon Graham.
The new library was constructed under the national BER funding scheme (Building the Education Revolution), with Burling Brown Architects working as the main designer.
Nathan Quartermaine of Burling Brown Architects states; “The Caloundra City School was very proactive when they heard about the funding. They wanted to make sure the project would commence quickly on site and provided us with a very detailed brief. They asked for a state-of-the-art building which reflected the changing role of the use of multimedia in the education of primary school students.”
The project commenced on February 2009 and the Caloundra City School Library was officially opened in March 2010. One of the most prominent design challenges was the need for segregated space while maintaining an open plan with good vision, as a large range of primary school students would be using it. There also had to be separate spaces so that a number of classes could simultaneously utilise the facility and operate independently of each other.
“Aesthetically, the library had to look as if it belonged within the school campus. As the building is located on major vehicle access to the school, it is the first of a number of signature buildings we have planned for the campus. The comprehensive brief allowed us to create a building that assimilated with the existing structures. We were able to achieve this by employing architectural aesthetic and selecting building materials that were used on previous buildings,” says Nathan.
“We used Escura Smooth Face external bricks from Boral Bricks and single cant shapes in Sydney Red as the main building element. We created a number of corner windows in the project framed by the red brick. These along with the faceted blade walls all produced some tricky waterproofing challenges but the results are stunning,” he added.
Nathan says his Burling Brown Architects employed the same external bricks throughout the campus to provide a design ethos and create a community of buildings. “The product colour and finish is amazing. The vibrancy of the red external bricks combined with good workmanship creates a quality appearance that will look good for years to come. As school campuses are built over a number of decades, utilising a consistently high quality product allows us to be confident about its longevity.”
The Caloundra City School Library recently won the Sunshine Coast Master Builder’s Construction Award for an educational or health building under $4million and will move forward to the Queensland finals of the Master Builders Awards.
