Going Vertical

Richmond High School, Melbourne by Hayball Words Photography

Vertical schools are not a new phenomenon, particularly overseas in high-density areas such as New York, London and Hong Kong. However, in Australian cities such as Melbourne, the concept is relatively novel – that is, until now. Hayball recently completed its first multi-level primary school in South Melbourne. Richmond High School, located between Highett and Griffiths Streets in Richmond, is its latest. A number of government-run schools were closed during the 1990s, but with a new demographic settling into the inner city, this educational program to reintroduce inner-city public schools will strengthen. “High school students living in Richmond were previously required to travel to neighbouring suburbs. There just wasn’t an option,” says architect David Tweedie, a director at Hayball. This site, formerly occupied by Richmond Primary School, is now setting a precedent not only for Richmond, but other inner-city areas across Australia.

Hayball’s brief from the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) for this new school was not only to make maximum use of the relatively modest site (5000 square metres) but, importantly, to place the students at the heart of the school, meeting their needs from the outset. Conceived over four levels, the curvaceous twotone steel-clad building was clearly designed from the inside out. “We were mindful to create a series of pod-like environments that would cater for the various student cohorts, as much as integrating them within the entire volume,” says Tweedie, who was also conscious of students using the stairs rather than relying on lifts.

Central to Hayball’s design is a dramatic atrium that extends across all levels and allows for natural light to permeate the core. Mindful of the limited outdoor space (although there’s a generous northern garden), the atrium has a sense of the outdoors. A modest concrete auditorium at ground level allows for students to catch