The Victorian State Government has appointed Gray Puksand to design two inner city schools located in Prahran and South Melbourne to cater for the city’s growing urban population.

Minister for Education, James Merlino announced that these world class schools will be designed to leverage the benefits of being located in an inner city urban environment.

Located on the former Swinburne Prahran campus site and neighbouring the National Institute of Circus Arts and Melbourne Polytechnic, Prahran High School will include the refurbishment and development of an existing six-storey building and a large car parking area. The South Melbourne Park Primary School site on Albert Drive Road was previously occupied Parks Victoria and currently has a number of potentially historically significant buildings that may be repurposed in the development of a multi-level education facility.

Gray Puksand partner, Stephen Turner believes the constrained nature of these urban sites have presented a unique opportunity to design agile learning environments within existing buildings with countless options for contemporary teaching and learning, and outdoor activities. “We’re eager to get started on the master planning and site analysis of the existing facilities while exploring the many possibilities for these long awaited schools through intensive community engagement,” he says.

Recent education work completed by Gray Puksand includes Somerville Secondary College’s Technical Education Centre, Deakin University’s Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training (CADET) and Chisholm Institute’s START Trade Training Centre, pictured below.

Gray Puksand
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