Dandenong West Primary School

An open plan learning community building and multipurpose building both for school and community use. Officially opened in 1925, Dandenong West Primary School is located approximately 30km south east of Melbourne city in the suburb of Dandenong.

The School’s student population is culturally diverse and typically ‘newly arrived’, with many families having been in Australia for less than five years and a significant portion for less than two years.

The existing heritage building on site was a source of school pride. This saw some major repairs to the facade and reinstatement of the original facade of the building. To facilitate the continued functional use of the building we respectfully intervened and made minor alternations to spaces to fill them with light and promote connection across corridors.

For the learning community, we workshopped the pedagogical model with the school principal who was keen to explore a new collaborative teaching style that would cater for the diversity of students. The interior space was carefully designed to manage acoustics, safety