Hayball wins international architecture awards for South Melbourne vertical school project

Melbourne-based firm Hayball has won four architectural awards at a ceremony in Berlin for their work on the South Melbourne Primary School.

The school will be Victoria’s first vertical school and involves the development of a new model for school and community housing 525 students.

The project includes an early learning centre, administration, multi-purpose community rooms and indoor and outdoor multi-purpose sports courts.

Richard Leonard, director of Hayball, said it's a great honour to be recognised on a global scale by the Education – Future Projects category at the WAF Awards.

"What we’re most proud of is the combination of a learning hub with a community centre for the local residents to enjoy, which embraces the connection between learning and recreation, students and neighbours," he said.

"As the first vertical school in the state, the project is both experimental, innovative and enthralling."

The school will be located in the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area and Leonard said it demonstrates forward planning of community infrastructure with the shared facilities forming a mutually supporting complex of excellent and wide ranging services for an emerging local community.

“In a precinct that is one of Australia’s largest urban renewal areas and expected to swell to 80,000 residents over the next 40 years, future proofing educational facilities is a critical factor in ensuring a suburb can evolve and behave according to the needs of its residents," he said.

"With this primary school which offers more than the traditional spaces for learning, we’re building a new model for education that caters to more than just students, but the broader community.”