All Hallows School

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The Potter Building Project’s most significant design challenge was to reuse and reimagine an uninspiring existing building that is decades old but without heritage charm. The building also had to solve multiple site-wide and internal circulation issues, house a range of disparate functions, and create additional space on a land-locked site. The building refurbishment is signalled from the outside by a striking multi-level external stair wrapped in vertical, tubular metal battens. The separation of this stair from the central body of the building unlocked the floor plates creating opportunities for internal volumetric connectivity with the insertion of voids and inter-linking stairs. One such void is the central reading stair which provides a significant visual and physical connection within the building. Here daylight is also welcomed in by a new glass façade that encases a small but significant amount of new floor area that was added to the south of the building. This addition affords much of the building spectacular views towards the city centre. The complex planning and confluence of multiple functions is unified with a consistent colour and materials palette used in ways that vary from highly finished, to raw and industrial. The colour palette is a symphony of colours from life at All Hallows’: heritage green, All Hallows’ blue and rust, and red and purple from the existing library fit out. The extensive use of timber, and the innovative employment of sustainable Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) were deliberate gestures in the consideration of the health and well-being of students, staff, visitors and the environment. The exposed CLT provides a unique warmth which is embraced in the entire material palette.