In 2014 Fairhills Primary School underwent a massive change, moving to learning spaces for the 21st century and beyond. 

It is extremely exciting for our community to have won an award for the amazing changes to the school, and just in time to celebrate the school’s 50th Anniversary. Below you can read the reasons behind the award.

Judges citation           Winner: Category 3 Renovation over $1m

Fairhills Primary School           Minx Architecture

A capped budget of $4 million, three 1960s buildings, a sloping site and the hope to re energise the educational opportunities for students at Fairhills Primary School provided the team with a challenge.

The approach taken was to recycle existing buildings including LTCs paying particular attention to light and ventilation, installing louvered windows to upper galleries to allow for indirect light and night purging. Indoor and outdoor learning flow seamlessly and students with disabilities have easy access to all learning settings.

In this category the project stands out for the way in which extensive consultation with all stakeholders including the students was undertaken. In a school with a declining population there was some genuine engagement with the community to respond to their needs. The panel also noted the way in which the architecture prompted a range of pedagogies and the evolution of future pedagogy allowing for development and change.

The new learning settings are filled with light and are bright, inviting learning spaces.

The school and the designers are congratulated on achieving these impressive outcomes given the constraints.