Cathedral Grammar Junior School

In collaboration with Tezuka Architects

Built as part of the post-quake reconstruction of Christchurch, this classroom block for a private inner-city school overlooks Hagley Park. It contains seven classrooms, a common room, administration spaces, and toilets. These classes for children aged five to seven had been housed in a quake-destroyed historic building and followed a traditional one-class-one-teacher pedagogy. The brief was to allow more collaboration between teachers, but avoid the problems associated with open plan ‘learning environments’. Further, educational technology and methods are changing rapidly, and the building needed to accommodate change not only day-to-day but in the longer term.

The design sought to create a ‘garden school’. Configured as three blocks arranged around a courtyard and linked by covered walkways and decks, the building was kept low to the ground, maximized the use of natural materials, and created classrooms with generous openings to the courtyard and looking out to the lush greenery of the adjacent park. A stair leads to a large roof deck, and a slide running back down makes the building itself an adventure for the children. Internally, the arrangement is highly flexible. Full-height folding doors in the classrooms and common areas allow teachers to create a variety of settings – cellular spaces for concentrated study, interconnected classrooms for collaborative learning, and large open spaces for group activities.

In contrast to most new schools, which mimic offices or institutional spaces, this project is characterized by its extensive use of timber, imbuing the spaces with warmth and character. The complex Laminated Veneer Lumber structure combines traditional timber jointing techniques and up-to-the-minute fabrication technology. Computer-controlled milling machines pre-cut timber elements with precisely interlocking rebates and mortice-and-tenon joints, creating a complex structure that could simply be slotted together on site. The secondary elements – partition walls, folding doors and large timber windows - are separated from the structure, and can be reconfigured as learning needs evolve.

The design pushed the limits of new CNC timber milling technology to allow the economical use of exacting traditional timber joints normally thought too expensive or technically demanding. The timber elements were meticulously designed and manufactured to ensure structural performance and perfect fit. The timber elements arrived on site complete down to the smallest hole and rebate. The result is a complex timber building that appears effortless - cabling, fixings, flashings and other cluttering elements are either invisible or seamlessly absorbed. The result of 21st century craftsmanship, the completed spaces are open and light – the interior linked smoothly with the landscaping and surroundings to create a rich, flexible learning environment.

CLIENT Cathedral Grammar School

LOCATION Christchurch

YEARS 2013-2016

PROJECT TEAM Designed in collaboration with Tezuka Architects, Tokyo. Andrew Barrie, Nathan Swaney, WooMin Lee, Ben Calis, Julian Rennie (ABL) Takaharu Tezuka, Yui Tezuka, Midori Taki, Wtanya Chanvitan, Takashi Ohira, Mariel Lozano, Mitsuhiro Matsuura (Tezuka Architects)

CONSULTANTS Structural Engineer: OHNO Japan + Ruamoko Solutions; Geotechnical Engineer: Tonkin & Taylor; Civil Engineer: Site Solutions; Services Engineer: Norman Disney & Young; Fire Engineer: Enlightened Solutions; Quantity Surveyor: Barnes Beagley Doherr; Landscape Design: Robert Watson Landscape Architects

CONSTRUCTION TEAM General Contractor: Contract Construction

PHOTOGRAPHY Patrick Reynolds