Coburg Special Development School, Victoria education propert photosy, Australian building design, Architecture

Coburg Special Development School in Victoria

12 May 2025

Architects: Gray Puksand

Location: Coburg, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Photos: Christine Francis

Coburg Special Development School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Coburg Special Development School provides a supportive and nurturing environment that promotes learning, personal growth, and well-being for students with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities, sensory and physical impairments, and autism spectrum disorder.

Moving from their previous location the school required a new purpose-built campus for nearly 100 students ranging from Prep to Year 12. It is organised into Early Years, Middle Years, and Senior Years sub-schools.

Each sub-school forms a distinct Learning Neighbourhood, tailored to its unique location within the building and providing a sense of progression as students advance through their education.

The campus design features two double storey buildings arranged across three levels which step down the steeply sloping site, providing views to the surrounding greenery and open space of the Merri Creek.

The southern building houses administration, the senior learning neighbourhood and specialist spaces on the first floor. The northern building houses two additional learning neighbourhoods. A covered walkway connects the buildings, ensuring flexible access and allowing for adaptable design and construction between the two distinct sections.

The concept of a learning neighbourhood is expanded to create a larger village-like environment, where each neighbourhood and specialist area stands out as an individual entity within the whole. This approach breaks down the scale of the larger building, providing a distinct visual identity to each neighbourhood from both the interior and exterior.

Specialist spaces are purposefully designed to offer students rich sensory experiences beyond their classroom environment, enhancing their learning and functional independence. The building’s design is driven by the need to establish a strong, direct connection between indoor and outdoor learning environments. This is crucial for students requiring diverse settings for self-regulation, and it ensures that the larger student body has sufficient outdoor space for inclusive break times within the relatively compact site.

Coburg Special Development School in Melbourne, Australlia – Building Information

Architects: Gray Puksand – https://melbournedesignstudios.com.au/

Project size: 3500 sqm
Project budget AUD 21,000,000
Completion date: 2024

Photographer: Christine Francis

Coburg Special Development School, Melbourne images / information received 120525

Location: Coburg, VIC 3058, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

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