Construction begins on $30M new Catholic College

ORAN PARK is the new home for the Catholic Education Office (CEO) of Wollongong’s brand new 1000 student secondary College designed by Fulton Trotter Architects. Construction began on stage 1 of the $30M St Benedict’s Catholic College master plan earlier this year and will transform existing farm properties into modern education facilities to match the growing demand of the surrounding suburbs. The neighbouring property is the site of another Wollongong CEO school – St Justin’s Catholic Primary School which is currently under construction.

Fulton Trotter have worked collaboratively with the CEO and the school community in designing a campus which embraces the local environment and provides exceptional open outdoor learning spaces, landscaped around highly advanced teaching facilities. “St Benedict’s Catholic College will become a vital part of social infrastructure in a growing community. Oran Park is a booming area and the demand for new schools is becoming more and more evident. St Benedict’s Catholic College will be at the forefront of providing state of the art, modern educational facilities for the growth areas in Sydney’s South-West.” says Architect John Ward of Fulton Trotter Architects. “We have designed this master plan over 7 stages which will be completed by 2020 and will incorporate a broad range of specialist learning and teaching spaces. This is a highly anticipated addition to this community.”

The College received development approval in 2012 for all 7 stages after an extensive planning process. This process involved a series of collaborative workshops with the Client, the school and even the students – a website was established as a forum to engage the school’s students in the process of creating their new school facilities. The school is currently in operation on the site in temporary facilities.

Stage 1 of the project is a state of the art technical and applied studies (TAS) centre, arts block and the beginnings of what will become the media centre. This series of three buildings have been designed around a landscaped courtyard, which is a big highlight for the college who hope for it to be a very engaging and active space – creating a focal point for the buildings. Construction is due to complete mid 2013.

Following the completion of stage 1, construction will begin soon after on the centrepiece of the site – the COLA, which the architects label as the “heart” of the College. Included in this stage will be a new food technology centre and a canteen as well as six general learning areas (classrooms).

“We have enjoyed a very thorough and intensive collaborative effort with our Clients and we believe this project will be a much loved community space. A lot of energy went into environmental impact, siting of buildings, material selections and landscaping to ensure we designed a campus which really embraced this area,” said Mark Trotter, Director of Fulton Trotter Architects.