Projects
Cannon Hill Anglican College Brisbane
Education
Overview
Maintaining connections with existing landscapes: Cannon Hill Anglican College’s new Admin and Wellness Centre
Located in the leafy surrounds of Brisbane’s south, Cannon Hill Anglican College caters to over 1,350 students and over 200 staff. The school recently replaced an existing administration building on the grounds, delivering in its place a brand-new three level space cleverly concealed within the existing natural landscape.
Local design firm Reddog Architects in association with Blueline Architecture were engaged to bring the interiors to life, resulting in a building with wellness for both students and staff at its core.
The Space
Future proofed for ongoing collaboration
The building’s ground floor provides a sign-in point for students and visitors to the campus, alongside student wellness and support facilities including first aid. Hot desks, breakout and meeting spaces for teachers and administration staff are situated on the second floor, whilst senior executive offices including the Principal and Deputy Principal’s offices, as well as additional social and wellness spaces for staff are located on the top floor.
“We recognised an opportunity to create a collaborative space, rather than ending up with a traditional corporate environment,” explains Paul Worroll, Director at Reddog Architects. “The building is anchored at two ends by two staircases, with staff encouraged to utilise them throughout the day to access the staff-only floors. These staircases led to us exploring circulation throughout the building and how we could activate other spaces to become those breakout spaces.”
Staff workshops were used to gather further insights, balancing immediate needs with the importance of providing flexibility and agile spaces for years to come.
“We brought a user group along to the Schiavello showroom because we wanted them to sit in a chair, we wanted them to understand how their desk might work, we wanted them to understand how they might adopt some quiet spaces versus the furniture used in a transitional space.”
“That was the beauty of the furniture provided, it gave us the ability to say this is how you might set the space up now but going forward the space can also be changed.”
Design elements
Tapping into the colours of nature
Colours adopted throughout the building’s finishes centred around three key elements – the earth, the canopy and the sky.
The use of warm, earthy tones throughout the ground floor are designed to symbolise the idea of being a guardian to the students, whilst the canopy and its connection to sunlight are reflected in the calming, soft green tones on the second floor. Lighter blues, and warm golden tones denoting sunrise and sunset above the canopy have then been adopted throughout the top floor.
These finishes were woven throughout the wall, floor and ceiling colours, as well as across fixed joinery and loose furniture.
Schiavello's Solutions
High-end quality and depth of range
An elegant 20-person Aire Meeting Table takes pride of place within the top floor Boardroom, complimented by World Task Chairs with bespoke soft blue upholstered seats. Colo, Elfin and Palomino seating features throughout the Principal’s Office, Staff Health Hub and transitional waiting spaces, while Taurini and Palomino seating provide staff with a comfortable place to sit and relax in the large open staff social space.
In keeping with the project’s focus on wellness, ergonomic height-adjustable Krossi Workstations were installed in senior executive offices and across the second floor’s open plan resident space. Desk-Mount Focus Panels in ‘Banksia Gum Leaf’ fabric tie perfectly into the natural ‘canopy’ feel, paired with World Task Chairs with complimentary soft green seats.
Round Aire Tables then offer a quiet spot for staff to connect or take a call in a handful of breakout and meeting spaces across both the ground and second floors.
Finally, a lineup of adjustable Healthcare Recliners in the ground floor Sick Bay provides a comfortable place for students to rest and recuperate, complete with anti-bacterial fabric.
Having provided a suite of furniture solutions for a previous building within the campus, Schiavello were engaged once again thanks to their depth of quality, sustainable products.
“Schiavello was very much at the top of our list – the quality and the operability of the furniture was considered very high end and well suited to the client,” says Paul.
Photography by Kate Mathieson.
