The sympathetic design responds to the topography, existing campus master plan and educational model to create a learning environment specifically for young children to support their social, learning and physical development.

The new Prep to Year 4 learning spaces are a strategic undertaking by the Downlands College to continue to serve their community. As part of a decade-long involvement with the college, ThomsonAdsett designed a series of connected learning spaces to support these new programs.

The proposed new buildings and landscape allow the additional purpose-built and outdoor spaces to support the delivery of teaching and learning programs for Prep to Year 4.

The chosen site acknowledges the existing primary program, with the adjacent established Mooney Wing housing the Years 5 and 6 programs. The master plan reflects this connection and progression into the rest of the campus.

The deliberate two-stream model reflects student-centred outcomes. The design responds to this, creating appropriately scaled learning spaces and supporting outdoor spaces, all of which is sympathetic to the age of the children.

The orientation takes advantage of north-south breezes, maximising the amount of natural ventilation available to all learning spaces. The single-storey design enables a simple structure and construction techniques, ensuring value for money.

The design responds to the existing topography to minimise costs associated with significant civil works whilst retaining the connection of learning spaces with outdoor spaces.

Efficient design and orientation seeks to minimise the ongoing costs associated with running and maintaining the new assets.

The existing multi-purpose courts were used to provide a base for the covered outdoor space, while the simple, repeatable classroom layout enables efficient detailing to focus on providing quality affordances within the classrooms.