Wangaratta District Specialist School by Sibling Architecture | 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards

Wangaratta District Specialist School by Sibling Architecture | 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards
Regional Prize
Yorta Yorta

This new Learning Hub building for the Wangaratta District Specialist School delivers the first new building of a long-term masterplan to transform and upgrade the existing underutilised campus. The school caters to students with diverse needs and with wide ranging intellectual and physical disabilities. The new facility is sited on what was previously a neighbouring school’s site, and part of the project was about realigning the boundaries between these campuses. The new building offers a range of learning spaces including 6 general purpose classrooms, allied heath support spaces, spaces to strengthen domestic skills, collaborative staff workspaces, sensory spaces and supported amenities.
Constrained by budget and area allocated by the VSBA, the building is conceived of as two mirrored modules, linked through a warm sensory breakout space. The roof of each module is split to allow for high-level southern windows to deliver light deep into the floor plate, and a series of large pop-ups provide northern light and views to the sky from special areas within the centre of the building. The external form is broken down to allow for the building to read almost as a collection or village of buildings to assist with legibility.
The design response is heavily guided around providing spaces that cater to and support the needs of the students. A lengthy consultation process with staff, allied health professionals and community informed the design of all spaces. Classrooms are singular in nature to create focussed learning environments with minimal distraction. Each classroom space has an adjoining outdoor breakout space, which provides an immediate relief for students requiring self-regulation.
Ceiling mounted hoist systems allow students to be carried from the learning spaces into the amenities by way of a discreet corridor to allow a dignified approach off the main thoroughfare of the building. The centralised kitchen space is designed to assist students in developing their life skills and provides a space for social gathering in the heart of the building.
Through our engagement we came to understand the different sensory needs of the diverse cohort and mapped out a design response to engage with each of the senses. A variety of sensory spaces are provided including smaller intimate nooks, dedicated rooms, and an outdoor sensory garden. Visual stimulation is provided through custom light features and ceilings, there are nooks for listening to sounds, and apparatuses that engage with the vestibular system. The material choices echo this interest through a selection of tactile finishes both inside and out. Internally, soft spaces are lined with carpet, and textured rubber and timber, whilst externally a patchwork of different brick textures are laid to create a tactile and undulating surface.
Several strategies are employed to minimise the impact on the environment including northern orientation, natural ventilation and high-level automated vents create a chimney effect in the large pop-up spaces. The building is 100% electric and contains an array of PV cells on the roof to harness the hot Wangaratta sun. Rainwater is harvested and used for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation.

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The Australian Institute of Architects Presentation to Juries offered entrants in the 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards an opportunity to address judges with their nominated projects.

Featuring some of Australia’s most prominent architects, Presentation to Juries is a rare opportunity for the public to learn about the influences behind some of Victoria’s most innovative buildings and follow the architectural process from concept to construction.