Cashmere Primary School
The redevelopment of the school was a part of the Christchurch School Rebuild (CSR) programme and involved wider master-planning of the school site. Situated on the Port Hills of Christchurch, the existing buildings and multileveled terrain of Cashmere Primary school provided both an exciting and unique design opportunity.
The collaborative approach to rethinking the school's organisational model was thoroughly worked through by the two architectural practices (Hayball and Co-Studio) and school representatives. Crucial to this process was locating the New Learning Hub building (NLH) to successfully integrate it within the existing layout and multi-levelled nature of the school site.
The building nestles into the bank of the site’s southwest corner, embracing the playground and providing a prominent connection to the remainder of the school.
The NLH building consists of two levels. The ground level of the building, with its sprawling timber deck and steps, provides a welcoming approach from various points; drawing students from the outside in. Conversely, the first level addresses the south of the site where students can enter and proceed directly into the first-floor learning spaces. Internally, the learning spaces are light and open. Small nooks and meeting rooms are accentuated with colour and form and encourage teachers and students to retreat from the main learning areas.
The site and location, along with the clever use of materials, encourages the building’s dynamic form. The use of corrugated iron, fibre cement board and perforated screens ties back to the existing materiality of the school, while also articulating the new building form in a contemporary and distinctive way.
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Professionals used in Cashmere Primary School
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COMMUNICATE, COLLABORATE, COOPERATE, COORDINATE
An Inspired Approach
CO-STUDIO is our architecture practice with a shifted emphasis to solving built environment problems with people. This people-centric approach is inspired by the words of a Pritzker Prize winning architect Glenn Murcutt, describing the best approach to architecture: “We don’t design buildings. We discover them”. This inspired our motto:
Design Through Discovery
Spending the time to listen to you and understand what is important to you, is at our heart. We firmly believe that successful, truly sustainable, and enduring architecture is discovered through a process that fully engages with those who have a long-term relationship with their buildings. Everyone has a key part to play, and our skill is in understanding your needs and those of your stakeholders including tenants, visitors, customers, builders, councils, design teams and maintenance people.
Guardians of the Earth
Protecting the environment is not only important to us, but integral to our operations and services. We recognise the role that architects play to reduce our carbon emissions and commit to working toward net zero carbon for CO-STUDIO projects by 2030. As part of this role, we approach every project with a sustainability lens. We seek to identify the barriers to embrace sustainable solutions, and then work to dismantle them.
If some of our projects and faces seem familiar, that's because we are part of the wider Stephenson & Turner Group. If you've worked with us before, expect the same passion and quality. If you're meeting us for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. We love a good chat (and coffee!)
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