Coffs harbour christian community school learning discovery centre

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We started with one simple idea: What about a library, a museum, and a zoo all rolled into one innovative learning space? Every aspect of the Learning Discovery Centre has been designed to intentionally provoke our students’ curiosity and sense of wonder. From the artefacts in the display boxes, to the live reptiles and insects, we wanted to create a space where students would be compelled to learn.

The first thing you see when you come to our library is the 7-foot hardwood Gruffalo sculpture standing outside the entrance. We wanted to engage students with a well-loved character to promote a love of books and to merge the library with the outdoors.

Colourful display boxes were strategically placed amongst the bookshelves. Live reptile and insect enclosures were custom built, as well as a Lego wall with storage drawers. A games room and green screen were added just for fun.

We had size constraints during the build, as we were not able to increase the footprint or move any external walls. To increase the usable space, we built a vertical reading wall. The downfall of the reading wall was the entry and exit points, as they were originally all at floor level, which would be problematic when a lot of students were trying to get out. However, the idea of adding an external slide enabled us to create an extra exit point up high to move students out quickly. The slide comes back in through a hole in the bookshelves.

We were also able to raise the ceiling height to create a sense of space. The games room is quite a small area, but the sloping walls draw the eyes upward and create an illusion of extra space. We had a colour consultant come to make sure the colour scheme flowed with the rest of the school, without reducing the vibrancy and sense of fun in this space. There are large colourful highlights in the carpet to draw the eyes to various aspects of the library and create the feeling of extra length.