Buchental School

The original school building was constructed in 1885. In the 1960s, the campus was extended with a new set of classrooms and a gym, behind the original structure. Sadly these concrete buildings fell into disrepair and in the early part of the new millennium it was decided to demolish the classrooms and replace them with something more appropriate to the 21st century. Andy Senn designed a new classroom block to sit on the same site, retaining and refurbishing the gym, together with the original school house. The new building is a linear composition on three levels. It connects to the gym at grade, and the original structure by means of a tunnel. The exterior is simple yet elegant. Internally the programme is strikingly functional. The ground floor is dominated by a large multi-function hall, which is expressed architecturally on the rear elevation. There are four classrooms on each of the upper floors, linked by generous circulation/breakout spaces.