Christian College Geelong Senior Campus Masterplan
A long-term plan to renew a 1950s campus, one connected step at a time.
This masterplan sets a long-term direction for the Senior Campus at Christian College Geelong, a steep site first built on in the 1950s. With many ageing buildings and a growing student population, it gives the school a clear picture of what to keep, what to replace and how to bring the campus together, and its first project, the Learning Mall, completed in 2022, is already showing what the campus can become.
Completion
Ongoing (Stage 1 Learning Mall completed 2022)
Services
Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Design
Client
Christian College Geelong
Location
Senior Campus, Geelong, VIC
Renewing a 1950s Campus
The Senior Campus was getting tired. Its older buildings were reasonably solid but hard to work with, and the school needed more space to grow. The campus sits on a steep site, making it hard to get around and to build on. Any new buildings had to accommodate growth, improve accessibility and connections between buildings, and respect the history of a site first developed in the 1950s for Geelong Grammar’s junior school, including the much-loved Grandfather Tree, a 70-year-old Claret Ash. The school needed to understand what was still useful, what had reached the end of its life, and how new facilities could better connect the campus. It was time for a clear, long-term plan.
Walking the Site With the Founder
We worked closely with the executive team, CEO and construction manager, and walked the site with the school’s Founder, whose excitement about the Grandfather Tree led us to plan around it. Together we found places where buildings could nestle into the hill, using the slope instead of lifts, all linked by a central green spine. The school now has a clear roadmap for renewing its Senior Campus.
The Learning Mall, the first project delivered under the plan, has given the campus a contemporary identity, connects visually to the Highton Campus clock tower, and has quickly become a favourite place for students to gather. It was delivered cost-effectively, too, at a time when construction costs were rising fast. It’s a strong start, and there’s more to come.