A Development Application for an exciting new educational facility for Arden Anglican School’s has been submitted to Parramatta Council.

The brief from Arden Anglican School to Stanton Dahl Architects was to design and deliver a new school facility that will enable the senior school to grow to four streams on the one campus. This facility is to provide a 21st century learning environment through the development of specialist education precincts, whilst also creating a unique built environment identity that embodies the school’s Christian philosophy. The New Essex Street building is a 5 storey educational facility with basement parking and a roof top terrace.

The new Essex Street building has been designed to accommodate specialist spaces for science, food tech and TAS as well as a resource centre, general learning spaces and roof top terrace.  Including a level of basement carparking, the new building has been designed vertically over five levels and addresses the challenge of making it welcoming to the school community by locating the spaces that encourage gathering on the first and second levels. Administration and student services are located on Level 1 and a multipurpose hall located centrally within the building on Level 2 is envisaged to become the “heart” of the school where students can gather and perform as providing interior recreational space.

To maintain outdoor recreation on the site, two new courts are to be constructed to replace the existing courts that will be demolished to allow for the new Essex Street building. One court will be for competitive sport, while a second is more flexible and designed to suit a variety of sports as well as informal recreation. The courts are to be landscaped sensitively to allow for screen-planting around the edges and shading trees for students to sit beneath.