Mawson Lakes School

Mawson Lakes School in Mawson Lakes, Australia by Russell & Yelland Architects, 2004

The following images and text are courtesy Russell & Yelland Architects for their award-winning Mawson Lakes School, in association with Guida Moseley Brown Architects. Photographs are by John Gollings and Steve Rendoulis.

In its close proximity to the University of South Australia, Technology Park and new accommodation for the elderly, lifelong learning was considered in new and flexible ways in the design of Mawson Lakes School. Stage 1 of the school caters for ages 3-13 and was part of a much wider exploration of learning in the 21st century. The architects consulted over 40 individuals and groups before design commenced.

The site area is less than half of most comparable schools. The school shares open space with community facilities and creates an urban edge facing the town center, while fingers of landscaping connect the school’s courtyards to its open space and the Dry Creek reserve to the west. A north-south spine connects four ‘Family Units’ for 110 students, each opening directly to its own courtyard to the north and having distinct windows and bays to the Garden Terrace footpath.

The linear arrangement of the "Family Units" along the Garden Terrace frontage offers a sculpted form to the school. Two other buildings are positioned in counterpoint, establishing an urban entry at the north and formalising a plaza area within the landscape.

The building forms are purposefully simple and related, reacting to the functions of the family groups and to the use of natural daylight (with solar control), and to the use of natural ventilation. The single storey spaces are given additional presence through the height of their pitched roof on a street which has three-storey buildings opposite. Their identity is further developed by the dramatic character of the solar and thermal chimneys.

The variations of the planning alignment along the street edge, together with the varying courtyard screen materials and "Family Unit" window configurations create a unique experience for the pedestrian. One courtyard wall is punctured by a large fibreglass box, the "school greenhouse", at the terminus of the University axis, linking the otherwise free assembly of buildings to the formality of the town plan.

The administration building faces the plaza and is easily visible and accessible to parents and the community, as well as allowing observation of arrivals to the school. The Canteen and Activity Room are centrally located and open visually and physically to the spine, the courtyards and the school’s open space.

All of the buildings are designed to Ecologically Sustainable Design principles by incorporating natural ventilation, assisted by "thermal chimneys" to ensure a managed supply of fresh air with supplementary heating and cooling using ducted conditioned air. The design detailing exposes the structure and materials, where appropriate, as elements of the learning program, and students can monitor and alter the environment conditions as part of the curriculum.