St Peter’s College
Big Quad Re-Development

It’s not about what you know; it’s about what you understand… and about what you can do with that understanding.

Environments for the education of children and adolescents have changed dramatically in recent decades. As technology evolves schooling environments must adapt and pursue a level of flexibility that has never before been required of them. 

As freedom to access limitless information becomes more available, education is seeing a great shift into equipping students with the skills needed not to repeat information, but to comprehend and draw lucid meaning from it. 

Establishing the capacity for life-long learning is a key goal for modern educational institutions. Every student’s appetite for learning must be encouraged and nurtured by those entrusted with their education and by the spaces dedicated to this purpose. 

Broader social changes and technological progress have driven changes in the way we all interact and the ways in which we learn. Within a modern school environment there is an increased need for a diversity of learning and teaching methods. Learning is no longer confined to classrooms and learning environments now take many forms. 

The connections between traditional fields of learning are an important stimulus for creative and inquisitive young minds; such as the connections between Art and Science, or between Drama and Politics. It is in these sorts of connections that insight can often be found. 

St Peter’s College has a long tradition of educational leadership and innovation. In recent years Matthews Architects worked with the school to create a new centre for middle schooling on the campus. This will soon be paired with a revitalised Big Quad Precinct.

The ‘Big Quad’ acts as the heart of St Peter’s College, directing the flow from its historic Chapel and Memorial Hall through to the main senior school campus, as well as providing a gateway to the School’s curriculum driven facilities. 

The purpose of integrating a framework of positive psychology into the design process and built outcomes is to create environments that actively support the development of young people.  Resilience, for example, is a crucial characteristic for long-term success and psychological well-being; it can be nurtured by creating “safe” and supportive places that encourage students to take “survivable risks”.  This could mean providing places for students to “prepare” or “rehearse” in private before they progress to “practicing” while being observed and supported, before they then progress to “performing” while being celebrated and encouraged.  Each environment must recognise that failure is not only acceptable – it is a vital part of any learning process.  This is just as applicable to science or sports as it is to the arts.  

St Peter’s College’s current masterplan is underpinned by three pillars: Culture, Learning & Place.  The Big Quad precinct provides fantastic potential to update existing spaces to the contemporary educational standards of the 21st Century without detracting from the extensive heritage of buildings: A flexible learning centre where students will be able to engage with subject matter in an environment that expresses the continuity of living heritage and the tangible connection between past, present and future. 

This project is an important milestone in the history of St Peter’s College.  A great deal of research, careful consideration and planning has been undertaken.  The outcome will be a greatly improved campus experience, with vastly enhanced learning environments for students.

The Big Quad is the heart of the campus at St Peter’s College. It is an iconic space surrounded by a collection of eclectic heritage buildings from different eras, including Big School Room, Australia’s oldest continuously used learning space. 

Matthews Architects have been entrusted with the responsibility of revitalising this important precinct and re-establishing it as the centre of academia within the School. 

The project includes the major renovation of three existing buildings and the creation of a new first floor Senior Study Hub, as well as a sympathetic refresh of the external spaces to improve access and circulation. The formation of a High Street and two House Hubs are significant investments in the pastoral care and campus experience for students 

There is opportunity through design to build on the already strong pastoral foundations. This could include the way in which Houses are accommodated, facilitated and expressed within the campus. The goal was to return the Big Quad to the centre of mass of the School with senior students accessing and making use of the facilities either in unstructured, self-directed (low to no supervision) or formal timetabled learning environments between the hours of 6am-9pm seven days per week.

The scope of the project was to provide at least 170+ student spaces to undertake independent or collaborative academic work at any one time. A combination of small bookable rooms, possibly with ‘Harkness Table’ format, independent units, and collaborative spaces. A facility to embrace a ‘Resident CEO’ so that the workplace and education can mesh together to enhance easy after-hours access.

Client: St Peter’s College