108 | Diocesan School for Girls T T Virginia Wright School’s creative hub in full bloom The mezzanine now serves as a technical hub and studio space for Year 13 art and design students. COMMUNITY Following a comprehensive refurbishment, Diocesan School’s renewed creative hub, the Shrewsbury Building, was ready as planned to welcome students for the 2026 school year. Built in 1984, with an addition in 1999, the building had good bones, which helped with the decision to work with it rather than demolish it and start again. “Reducing our carbon footprint is part of our sustainability policy, and refurbishing the existing building is one of the most effective ways to achieve that,” says property and development manager Melissa Brady “We saved thousands of cubic metres of waste going to the landfill, and by prioritising New Zealand-made as well as sustainable products we also reduced the impact of creating and transporting new materials.” The new energy-efficient lighting, hot-water and air-conditioning systems are largely powered with renewable energy, thanks to the 254 solar panels installed on the roof. Two 27,000-litre water tanks capture greywater to be reused for toilets and irrigation, which further reduces the building’s daily environmental impact. A new 181sqm mezzanine level meant full demolition and construction works within the restricted height of the original building, along with structural strengthening and foundation work designed to ensure the building will be safe for years to come. The mezzanine now serves as a technical hub and studio space for Year 13 art and design students. “Specialist facilities like print presses, silk screens, and spray booths are in the middle with senior art down one side, and down one end each Year 13 student has an individual studio that stays with them for the year. They can decorate however they like and at the end of the year it gets painted white again,” says Melissa Flexibility for multi-use options was central to the new design. The screens separating the Year 13 studios are on castors, and autex shells were built ready to slide over the students’ work when those screens are needed for a more public exhibition of students’ art or photography. Everything has been achieved with the additional challenge of building within a live school environment with pupils’ safety always paramount and timetables to be taken into account. Melissa worked closely with their project management team, architects and structural engineers, as well as the construction team and contractors all the way through as they navigated their way through the school year and completed the successful redevelopment of the Shrewsbury Building ready for 2026 as planned. So successful was the project that the building is now shortlisted in two categories for the 2026 Property Industry Awards, which celebrate excellence in property development and investment across New Zealand. The Colliers Project Leaders Education Property Award recognises its transformation into a modern hub for creative industries and senior learning, while the Naylor Love Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award highlights the sustainable approach of refurbishing and extending the existing 1980s’ structure, rather than rebuilding it. More importantly for Diocesan School and its Year 13 students is that this beautifully reimagined creative space reflects the creative nature of what’s done inside it. “The girls’ art is everywhere. The wraparound for the stairwell was designed with their help. The design they came up with for the balustrade with the hands and the words was part of what created the building,” says Melissa. “We’ve got facilities for the girls to experience so many things: food tech, barista training, glass kiln work, jewellery making, woodwork, photography, 3D design. “There’s so many elements to this building where the girls get to try so many different parts of the visual arts and creative industries that it’s really an inspiring place to be in.” Engineering & Surveying services for the Auckland region and nationally. fraserthomas.co.nz Supporting the Diocesan School Building Projects. Construction Cost Managers and Quantity Surveyors - Level 7, 51 Shortland Street, Auckland 1010 | 09 303 4394 | maltbys.co.nz 30YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP TOGETHER DEF INING COSTS ∙ MANAGING RI SK ∙ DEL IVERING RESULTS 1929 EST.
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