Girls School Project Review
Girls School Project Review
Nominated for a Best Award:
At the beginning of the month we attended the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards. We are very excited about our two nominations for the work we have done at Saint Kentigern’s Girl School and Saint Kentigern’s Specialist Facility and Boy’s School. We are very proud of the quality our work has achieved.
Finalists under the Spatial category for Public and Institutional Spaces/ Built Environments – up to $3 million. It’s been an incredible journey bringing these projects to life.
We’ve shared our process and project review of the boys school and specialist facility in our previous blog post. Follow this link if you would like to read about it, Boys’ School & Specialist Facility
Saint Kentigern’s Girl School:
For Saint Kentigern’s Girl School, the building required a considered design approach. We needed to create an optimal learning and teaching environment that achieves connection, engagement as well as functionality. Altogether creating a nurturing environment that fosters these young girls’ education experience.
Concept and planning:
Firstly, biophilia was a critical influence on the design. Connections to nature and the symbolism of these connections have consistently been proven to lower stress and increase performance. This allowed the girls to enter into the space in a ready-to-learn mindset.
Project delivery:
The scope of the interior design and delivery included: interior finishes for all hard and soft fitout elements. This included furniture and fittings, feature lighting and graphics for example.
Our interior design set-out to achieve this through: connecting the interior space to the school’s Scottish Heritage by implementing house colours into the finishes palette. We created an engaging learning environment by implementing biophilic design through design selections. We considered functionality with each space through optimal space planning, flexible furniture and acoustic solutions.
Use of colour:
Integrating the house colours in the finishes palette grounded the space in the school’s traditions. This also allowed connection with the specific learning needs of young women at different maturity levels. For the young students in their formative years, yellow is used on their floor. This was to provide a creative and inviting space. As the girls grow and mature, teal was selected on level three. This created a sophisticated and tranquil space. The top floor incorporates purple tones. Thus creating a sense of maturity and wisdom as the girls complete their primary schooling. Integrating softer elements and curves in the interior creates vibrant feminine energy throughout the building. The spaces are perfectly balanced with a level of sophistication while having a sense of playfulness.
Finishes:
Soft furnishings and finishes were all selected based on their ability to enhance the biophilic design direction and empowerment of the young girls. The feature lighting pieces in the foyer are stunning pieces that connect to natural elements. We selected the ceiling, flooring and wall finishes for their acoustic properties and as a grounding for the biophilic narrative.
Lastly, we selected furniture designed to be adaptable and flexible increasing the usability of the new spaces, as well as the engagement between students and staff. Soft seating, wall finishes and lighting were also chosen based on their ability to absorb sound. This allowed for open learning spaces to be used effectively for collaboration.
Conclusion:
We successfully answered the brief with this design. Creating a nurturing environment that fosters these young girls’ education experience.
St Kentigern’s Girls school has established a new standard in education space that connects, engages and works for the staff and students.
This design approach establishes a distinguishable Saint Kentigern presence and a unique identity for the Girls’ School.
