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Brisbane’s first new school in 50 years opens

ThomsonAdsett’s new vertical Fortitude Valley State Secondary College has welcomed its first students. The inner-city flagship state secondary school is the only one of its kind to open in the past 50 years.

The first stage of the project was opened on the 28th of January by the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for Education Grace Grace. 150 year-seven students now have access to a new learning centre, performing arts auditorium, administration building and outdoor green spaces.

Stage two of the project will open in mid-2020 and includes a seven-storey vertical junior learning centre.

ThomsonAdsett has worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth delivery of the project ahead of the 2020 school year. The project’s architectural design is by COX Architecture, the architectural documentation and delivery by ThomsonAdsett and construction by Hutchinson Builders.

At ThomsonAdsett’s engagement, the project had an extremely challenging program and budget issues. We worked with the builder to develop options to save money without impacting on the functionality or design.

We closely collaborated with the Principal (who was appointed after the design phase) to adapt the original design to better suit the management and operations of the school. ThomsonAdsett was also engaged to develop the Furniture Brief. This included hosting an engaging workshop with the school leadership team to understand their developing educational philosophy.

ThomsonAdsett has a longstanding history of delivering primary and tertiary education facilities throughout Australia. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the Department of Education and Hutchinson Builders on this flagship project.

ThomsonAdsett has also recently delivered a new six-storey building at North Lakes State College (City Campus) for the Department of Education.

To get in touch with our education team, contact:

  • QLD – Chad Brown, Group Director – Education & Communities
    • 0434 305 061
  • VIC – Sally Brincat, Education Sector Lead
    • 0419 523 906

L-R: Bianca Diluzio (ThomsonAdsett), Chad Brown (ThomsonAdsett), Queensland Minister for Education Grace Grace, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Richard Coulson (COX Architecture), Steven Harth (COX Architecture).

Photography by Alanna McTiernan