St Cuthbert's School Centennial Centre
ST CUTHBERT'S SCHOOL CENTENNIAL CENTRE
Architectus
YEAR
2010
LOCAITON
Auckland, New Zealand
TYPE
Educational › High School
In 2010, St Cuthbert's College began work on a project to mark its Centenary. This project by virtue of its location and its relationships to the existing campus activates a previously under-utilised part of the College site.
The resulting project is a well-being precinct with strong connections to the main school, outdoor courts, existing gymnasium, and playing fields.
The new building includes a 25×20m lap pool with a moveable floor and bleacher capacity for over 250 spectators, dedicated learners’ pool, fitness centre as well as a workspaces and counselling rooms for the wellness and guidance personnel.
In recognition of the specific technical issues that the pool component of the project would present, we invited Architecture HDT to join us in undertaking this project.
The Centennial Centre design is a response to the College’s detailed brief which goes beyond the construction of a swimming facility to consider physical wellbeing and sporting endeavour in a wider context that incorporates the College’s social and pastoral care role around the wellbeing of the whole student.
The architectural concept diagram that organises the building incorporates a braced glulam timber structure arranged in parallel with the main pool lanes, following the linear geometry that describes the pool and articulating the experience of swimming.
This structure extends beyond the pool, giving form to a generous articulated roof that shelters the fitness and social spaces under its folded volume.
The design of the Centennial Centre is organised to facilitate the delivery of the health and physical education curriculum in the sense of structured teaching and learning activities, support of student wellness, and to also enhance the College’s strong emphasis on extra-curricular sports, teams and family activities.
