RISE AND SHINE

When Arthur Phillip High School reopened in Sydney’s west last year, it became the first high-rise public school in the state. The now 17-storey Parramatta campus was one of two so-called vertical schools to open in Sydney last year – the 14-level Inner Sydney High is located in Surry Hills. There are also vertical schools in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, but it was Adelaide that got there first. Unveiled in 2019, Botanic High School in the Adelaide CBD comprises two high-rise buildings of six and seven storeys each.

Opened in 2019, the new Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery campus in Christchurch was New Zealand’s first vertical school.

Common in cities like Hong Kong, vertical schools tend to be built in densely populated areas as a response to land scarcity.

In the absence of existing data, the Queensland University of Technology has recently partnered with three Australian vertical schools to conduct the Impact of Urban Vertical Schools on Students’ Capability and Wellbeing research project. It is intended the resulting insights will help guide school and design leaders on future projects.