TIGS principal Dr Julie Greenhalgh is helping create a more cohesive and collaborative approach to education with a new $17 million building at the school. Photos: Keeli Dyson.
An innovative and specialised new building at The Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS) is setting the standard for educational excellence and sustainability, with the structure boasted as the first of its kind in the country.
A spacious, light-filled building with wall-to-wall timber, in the centre of TIGS’ campus, is set to be a space of learning, connection and collaboration for students and teachers long into the future.
“We think it’s the largest building project in the history of the school,” TIGS principal Dr Julie Greenhalgh said.
“We wanted to produce something solid even if it cost us more at the time because it has to be a legacy for future generations.
“This is the signpost of the future of education in the Illawarra … there’s nothing like this in Australia.”
The $17 million project replaced the school’s oldest building and was designed to the highest of sustainable and environmental standards, to meet community expectations and set an example for the next generation who will use it.
“We do take sustainability seriously at this place and the school has LED lighting, solar cells everywhere you turn, but we needed to crank it up to the next level,” Dr Greenhalgh said.
“We wanted to model to the students that these are the types of decisions that you have to make to be responsible citizens.
“[The building’s] lighting, its orientation, its airflow, its height of ceilings, the timber – so it’s actually carbon negative.
“When you live it and you do it, it’s a powerful message to teenagers particularly.”
But the impact of the building extends beyond its energy efficiency, with the use of space specifically designed to enhance the learning and teaching experience.
Downstairs includes dedicated classrooms for Year 6 students, along with a junior library and STEM space.
Upstairs was created as a hub for the English department, with six senior classrooms, a staffroom and a 150-seat lecture theatre – creating a precinct to improve opportunities for wayfinding, professional development and collaboration.
“Its emphasis on STEM, its emphasis on literacy, its emphasis on specialisation, its emphasis on unifying, seamless education, its emphasis on sustainability and responsibility – it’s powerful,” Dr Greenhalgh said.
“It’s not only a red-letter day for the school but it’s a signpost of the future of education for this school but also the Illawarra and beyond.”
With junior and senior students sharing the space, it will be a key tool in connecting the two elements of the school and preparing the younger students for what comes next.
“The transition from Year 6 to Year 7 is really important to us and this idea of having specialist spaces is part of that,” Dr Greenhalgh said.
“The building is right in the centre of the campus, so once again this connection between junior school which is traditionally down the hill and senior school which is up the hill, to have this meeting point in the middle is quite symbolic in many ways.”
Determined not to use demountables, the school had to adjust and find space to cater for six fewer classrooms while construction was underway to make sure students continued their education without disruption, but the challenge proved worthwhile when, after 18 months, the Hoskins Building finally opened its doors.
“There is something about that building that is very special and you can’t capture it on a plan,” Dr Greenhalgh said.
“I don’t know if it’s the wood, when you walk in there’s this beautiful smell, whether it’s the visual impact, the light is incredible, the colour. We’re a school – we’ve deliberately gone with joy and colour and visual impact, it’s beautiful.”
Although the school has set a new standard, it is still looking for ways to improve and is shifting focus to refurbishing and rebuilding elements of the junior school, with a particular focus on sports facilities.
“Schools are being called on to do more and more but also they need to because syllabuses are changing,” Dr Greenhalgh said.
“We’re learning more about how students learn well, so we need to cater for that, and the school is growing so we need more space.”
To learn more about TIGS visit the school’s website.
