St Catherine's Masterplan

On 6 April 2016, the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment approved the Campus Master Plan which included the Research, Performing Arts and Aquatic Centre (RPAC) as Stage 1.

The department has allowed for Stage 1 to now be done in two stages with the unified research centre as Stage 1(b).

The Masterplan allows the School to more efficiently use its limited space through the creation of precincts. Timing for the commencement for Stage 2 is still to be determined but it is anticipated there will be a considerable gap between RPAC and Stage 2.

RPAC was identified in the Masterplan as the highest priority project that best addresses St Catherine's educational needs.

School Ground and Facilities

Background

In 2013, the school invited three architects to prepare design concepts for the site.

Mayoh Architects were selected as the winning designer and commissioned to prepare a Campus Master Plan for the entire site including detailed plans for Stage 1 ‐ RPAC.

The following objectives for the Campus Master Plan were identified:

State‐of‐the‐art facilities which complement St Catherine's commitment to providing broad, challenging and vibrant education within a nurturing environment
Enhance the current educational curriculum for Sport/PDHPE by introducing an Aquatic Centre in place of the existing, aged outdoor pool
Enhance the current educational curriculum for performing arts by providing a new state‐of-the‐art professional grade auditorium to address the constraints of the existing "play‐box theatre" within the Dame Joan Sutherland Centre (DJSC) including its small spectator gallery, insufficient back‐of‐house facilities, inadequate size to accommodate school performances etc
Introduce a new Research Centre to reflect a contemporary world‐leading teaching and learning environment for staff and K‐12 students, equipped with a broad variety of leading edge and learning based technology within a diverse range of learning environments
Ensure an efficient, adaptive reuse of residual spaces created by the development of new facilities to create a variety of education-based precincts throughout the school campus
Create new Junior and Senior School entries off Albion Street and Leichhardt Street respectively, which are sympathetic to existing traffic conditions and provide a safe, accessible pedestrian link between Albion and Leichhardt Streets for the school community
Create a new, safe formal school entry from Macpherson Street directly to the Administration Building via the Museum, separating vehicle entry from pedestrian entry whilst emphasising the significance of the school's heritage
Minimise dependency on external facilities to support the educational curriculum, as well as co‐curricular and extracurricular activities offered by St Catherine's School to the school community.

campus master plan proposal compriseD:

Demolition of Jane Barker Hall (JBH), existing swimming pool, change rooms and other minor demolition works throughout the site.

2.    Master Plan building envelopes to accommodate:
     (a) A total gross floor area (GFA) of 22,958m2
     (b) A total of 75 car spaces (a net increase of 19 car spaces)
     (c) New buildings, alterations and additions comprising:
                   (i) New RPAC forming Stage 1 of the Campus Master Plan
                  (ii) Creation of educational based precincts throughout the site
                  (iii) New three storey building on the former JBH footprint
                  (iv) Infill of the undercroft beneath the Boarding House and other internal renovations and alterations throughout the site
                   (v) New entry points, circulation networks, wet weather and disabled access arrangements

3. Tree removal and a landscape master plan.

4. Capacity to accommodate up to:

(a) 230 additional students to be introduced progressively over a 15 year period (ie. total 1,200 students)
(b) 10 additional employees (total of approximately 212 employees).

5. Completion of the Campus Master Plan in five stages.

school precincts

The Campus Master Plan includes the creation of precincts within the school to create consolidated and coherent hubs for various school activities as follows:

Sporting ‐ Creation of a sporting precinct by linking the proposed RPAC Aquatic Centre underground to the existing JKSC with shared facilities
Performing Arts ‐ Consolidation and expansion of the performing arts precinct by linking the existing DJSC with the proposed RPAC Performing Arts Auditorium
Research Centre ‐ Consolidation of the junior and senior libraries into the proposed Year K ‐12 research centre precinct in the centre of the campus
Science ‐ Expansion of the existing science precinct into the proposed building to replace the JBH
TAS/Visual Arts ‐ Consolidation of TAS/Visual Arts precinct from six existing locations around the campus to a consolidated area, spread across existing J‐Block and the proposed building to replace the JBH
Boarding ‐ Consolidation of the boarding precinct into one building and extension into the ground floor space for use as a dedicated Boarding House open space
Academic ‐ Consolidation of the academic precinct with general learning class rooms in the proposed building to replace the JBH and situated near the existing Isabel Hall Wing
Administration ‐ Extension of the existing main administration precinct including a centralised staff resource room and common room. Creation of new Student Centre (Administration) adjacent to the new Senior Student entry off Albion Street
Junior School ‐ Expansion of the Junior School precinct into the approved Nan Hind Centre Extension and connection to the Junior School Area in Research Centre
Open Space ‐ Retention of the existing Central Open Space Precinct.

For further information detail and/or to view the associated images of the Master Plan please visit the Department of Planning and Environment site via this link:

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/4176

The St Catherine's School Waverley application number is: SSD 6339