Goodna State School Expansion, Queensland

A recently completed prep and year one school building in the Brisbane suburb of Goodna has won the commercial and industrial category of the 2020 ‘Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards’ (LIDA). arkLAB ARCHITECTURE designed the building using Lysaght's LONGLINE 305®, WEATHERLINE® and CUSTOM ORB® cladding, all made from COLORBOND® steel.

The successful practice, arkLAB ARCHITECTURE, has a long history in institutional design, having undertaken work for some of Queensland’s leading universities and school facilities over the last two decades.

Goodna State School’s new prep and year one general learning area is a two-storey structure that features a third-floor viewing platform and includes ten new classrooms, two amenity blocks and staff and data rooms. This build is stage one of a two-stage project, with the future building to mirror the current design and be constructed as student numbers increase in the coming years.

arkLAB Architect and Associate Director, Daniel Killen, said that his team was given flexibility by the Department of Education and the school, to push the design boundaries so long as they worked within the required guidelines.

“There were quite prescriptive guidelines in place primarily around longevity and maintenance requirements as well as roof pitches, daylighting control, and circulation,” Daniel said.

“But so long as we could honour these guidelines, the Department of Education Coordinator and the school encouraged us to be creative and develop something unique.”

Lysaght products used in the development include LONGLINE 305®, WEATHERLINE® and CUSTOM ORB® cladding, with each product chosen to achieve a specific outcome.

Although extremely contemporary in design, the school building also draws inspiration from the local ‘Queenslander’-style houses that are prevalent in the area, while also complementing an existing heritage school building.

Daniel said that WEATHERLINE® cladding assisted in integrating the two diverse architectural styles.

“A portion of the building is in-line with residential homes on the street, so we included domestic elements in the design using WEATHERLINE® and CUSTOM ORB® cladding,” he said.

“We also needed to be cognisant of existing school buildings, in particular a weatherboard building that dated back to the 1800s. It was the only original school building remaining so the choice of WEATHERLINE® profile and colour was important.”

While WEATHERLINE® cladding delivered a weatherboard-look, importantly, the product also complied with the Department of Education’s strict maintenance requirements limiting the use of high-level painted finishes. Corrugated CUSTOM ORB® sheeting is also used along the main entry to the building to provide a softer effect.

Further enhancing the building’s visual appeal is the adoption of the Lysaght LONGLINE 305® profile – its vertical ribs provide a strong contrast with the WEATHERLINE® cladding, while emphasising its own deep profile pans.

LONGLINE 305® cladding is heavily used along the building’s undulating service spine which houses toilets, stairs and data rooms. The cladding folds uninterrupted from roof to walls emphasising the profile’s deep pans.

The variety of the COLORBOND® steel palette also assisted ArkLAB achieve the results it sought, ultimately opting for a combination of COLORBOND® steel colours Monument® and Surfmist® in a Classic finish, to provide an eye-catching juxtaposition of colours while complementing the paint scheme of the 1800s building.

Daniel said that Lysaght products future-proofed the building and would also allow compatibility with stage two of the works once construction began in the coming years.

“We know that Lysaght steel products are going to give us longevity both in terms of durability but also to achieve a uniform look for the future building,” he said.

“The Lysaght product reference manual, ‘The Referee’, is like an institution at our practice – for steel cladding Lysaght is our preferred supplier.”

Daniel also said that winning a LIDA is great for the practice’s profile.

“Receiving national exposure is great. Lysaght is a prominent brand, so to be aligned with it provides further recognition for arkLAB Architecture,” he said.