At Glenallen School, we discovered an incredibly passionate teaching and therapy team looking to bring ease to their students’ education and care experience. The school caters for students with physical disabilities and severe health impairments, and provides individual learning programs for those with a range of intellectual abilities.
Owing to its attempts to be more “neighbourly”, the facility was originally set at two metres below street level when it was built in this largely residential zone in the 1960s and 70s. Today, student access, safety and ease of mobility is – justifiably – the higher priority. To shake this built legacy, we supported the school with an upgrade to meet important accessibility requirements, and to bring natural light and comfort to everyday experiences like toileting.
Foreground has worked collaboratively with the Victorian School Building Authority and Glenallen School to deliver three stages of modernisation commencing in 2018 with $2m upgrades to 6 existing toilet and change areas including a pool change area. The new facilities were designed in accordance with DET and “Changing Places” guidelines to support the needs of the students, carers and teachers. The sensitively designed toilet areas feature electric hoists, automated doors and colour themed areas to define gender specific activity zones.
Subsequently, for Stage 2 Foreground delivered $700k upgrades to the school entry to improve accessibility, and additional change rooms. Following the completion of Stage 1 and 2 works, Foreground was appointed as Principal Consultant to deliver the Stage 3 modernisation works. Stage 3 tackled a diverse range of works including 3000sqm of re-roofing, demolition and asbestos removal and various new build extensions to increase the school’s footprint. Following these structural upgrades, we delivered the remainder of the external and carpark works, in addition to the internal fit-out of therapy and office areas.
In all stages, our team undertook extensive consultation with teachers and therapy teams for the fit-out. Staff gave detailed feedback on spatial programming issues, and we arrived at a colour scheme that supports student understanding of gender difference without reinforcing stereotypes.
Photography: Emily Bartlett Photography, Blue Tree Studios