Fulton Trotter Architects have completed the latest stage of Ambrose Treacy College’s (ATC) ongoing masterplan, adding three new buildings to the school’s 40-hectare Indooroopilly campus.

Accommodating ATC’s Year 9 and 10 students, the new Callan, Kilkenny and Westcourt Buildings are designed to a brief that, drawn from the spatial guidelines for Catholic schools calculated by enrolment numbers, was relatively conservative in pedagogical terms.

Nonetheless, the clients desired buildings that would be flexible and inspiring to their young students. As a result, the additions together contain 18 new learning and ancillary spaces ranging from general learning areas, to specialist science, industrial arts and music facilities, and even spaces that support career and counselor services.

The design goals – to maximise connections and views to the adjacent Brisbane River; to take advantage of natural light and ventilation; and to add vibrancy to the campus – also speak for themselves in the completed buildings. The library and canteen structure, for example, features high, exposed-truss ceilings that maximise natural light while enhancing views to the river.

The project team also used an unabashed colour palette and combination of shapes and curves to excite the exterior façades, although the new structures continue to defer to the Edmund Rice Building – the school’s original, heritage-listed, modernist brick building designed by Charles Fulton in the 1930s – with its brickwork and detailing (banded brickwork featuring ‘box’ and ‘arc’ forms).

The colour palette matures with the transition of precincts

Also influenced by the curved components of the Edmund Rice Building, the architects designed the new buildings to curve around a number of significant trees on site, embracing the natural environment as a focal point.

The project is built along a very defined ridge on the site surrounded by flood plain and the Brisbane River itself. The ridge line is home to huge eucalyptus protected by Brisbane City Council

This design decision to build around the trees mandated the introduction of special roof and gutter systems that would reduce leaf litter – previously a major problem of the site. As a result, the chosen roof forms direct rainwater to the outer edge of the curve, with a lowered raked gutter and Japanese style funnel rainwater system.

The library similarly has roof forms with mansard capped steel sheeting, which prevents leaf litter from clogging the gutters.

The vibrant colours featured on the buildings’ exteriors are continued internally to create a bold and playful learning environment. Finishes were selected based on two key criteria: their appropriateness to a school environment, including durability and low maintenance, as well as their depth of colour and how well they facilitate the application of the big, bold colours.

The project also includes significant civil works, including interim upgrades to adjacent intersections, 95 new carparking bays and a new student drop off point.

PRODUCTS

ROOFING
BLUESCOPE LYSAGHT, KLIPLOK 700 HIGH STRENGTH IN COLOUR, WITH MANSARD CAPPING WHERE ROOF IS FOLDED

EXTERNAL WALLS
AUSTRAL BRICKS, PRECISION RANGE IN ‘PAPRIKA’
AUSTRAL BRICKS, METALIX RANGE IN ‘EMERY’ (FEATURE BANDING)
JAMES HARDIE WALL & FLOOR PRODUCTS, EXO TEC FAÇADE PANELS WITH PREFINISHED GUARDIAN INFINITO A10 FACTORY APPLIED PAINT FINISH
JAMES HARDIE WALL & FLOOR PRODUCTS, EASYLAP PANELS WITH GUARDIAN INFINITO A10 FACTORY APPLIED PAINT FINISH
GJAMES, 475 SERIES GLAZING SYSTEM WITH LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS AND ALUMINIUM COMPOSITE PANELS WITH POWDER-COAT FINISH

EXTERNAL DECKING
FUTUREWOOD, CLEVERDECK COMPOSITE TIMBER DECKING

FLOORING
GERFLOR, TARALAY PREMIUM CONTRACT VINYL FLOORING
ALTRO SAFETY FLOORING, STRONGHOLD REDUCED SLIP VINYL FLOORING
HYCHEM INTERNATIONAL, GP EPOXY FLOORING
INTERFACE, CARPET TILES FROM THE PLATFORM, MONOCHROME AND ON LINE COLLECTIONS

INTERIOR FINISHES
ROCKCOTE ENTERPRISES, ECOSTYLE PAINT SYSTEMS
AUTEX, VERTIFACE ACOUSTIC WALL FABRICS