: : Fitzroy High School, Fitzroy

Fitzroy High School is a government 7-10 school in inner urban Melbourne. The school had been closed in 1992 but was subsequently reopened in 2004. Fitzroy High School has a strong design curriculum and is a state leader in implementing progressive education models in the class room.

In 2008 the scope of the school was increased. To facilitate this expansion, McBride Charles Ryan was engaged to design and document a ‘new school model’.

MCR’s design provides for the additional 225 students and 12 staff across three levels, interfacing with the existing 1960s school building. Private study areas, resource centres and an art / technology studio are also provided. The art / technology studio has been designed to open up, providing a space for community gatherings that is currently lacking in this suburb.

The model unit of the design is a space for between 40 and 60 students. Following a ‘team teaching’ approach, the spaces are configured to allow for a flexible distribution of use, accommodating activities ranging from large ‘chalk and talk’ lecture-style presentations to medium scale seminar groupings to individual private study.

The undulating perimeter is constructed from double brick with a deep cavity, allowing the building’s skin to perform structurally, thereby reducing the need for additional framing or bracing. The exposure of the inner skin of brickwork (and the underside of the slabs) maximizes the buildings latent thermal stability, considerably reducing the need for additional climate control.

With its prominent aspect to the street, its dynamic relationship with existing features such as the mature fig tree and its confident, exuberant expression of the aspirations of the school and its community, Fitzroy High School provides a positive example of how, faced with the contingencies of the Department of Education’s facilities schedules, architecture can still be designed with a modicum of ‘zing’.

Photographer: John Gollings