8 | Marian College T T Ange Davidson Ground-breaking school set to open The school is entirely housed within the warehouse and consists of two stories and 27 soundproofed classrooms connected by walkways and air bridges. DEVELOPMENT After a 12 year wait for permanent premises, Christchurch’s Marian College is getting ready to move into a state of art school retrofitted into the shell of a large warehouse. The ultimate in repurposing, the Catholic girl’s school is entirely housed within the warehouse and consists of two stories and 27 soundproofed classrooms connected by walkways and air bridges. The roofing in one corner of the building is peeled back for a large outdoor courtyard and an outside playing field is shared with St Josephs school, one of several contributing schools in the Main North Road area. Principal Mary-Lou Davidson says there was a genuine effort to repurpose and retrofit the warehouse and while the school’s structure is built in timber, you can still see the warehouse’s steel structure. “The main feature of this build is sustainability and innovative design, and our aim is to achieve a Greenstar rating. It’s a very clever use of space and while the classrooms are separate, there are operable glass sliding doors between some rooms to create flexible learning environments. The school has much greater capacity as a lot of areas can be used in many ways,” she says. “When we first visited the site with the architect and the project team, you could see the possibilities and how it could be repurposed for a sustainable rebuild of the school. At the time the former Foodstuffs distribution centre was the biggest in the South Island and following the spirit of Pope Francis’ advocacy for the care of our planet, we decided to repurpose the building rather than demolish it.” The warehouse site is across the road from Marian College’s brother school, St Bede’s and the contributing schools of St Joseph and St Francis of Assisi. After the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011, Marian College shared a site with St Bede’s for a year, with St Bede’s students attending school in the morning and Marian College students attending in the afternoon. It then moved to a longer-term arrangement with Christchurch Cathedral College on Barbadoes Street. “It was very gracious of these schools to site share with us, and we had only expected it to be for a few years. However out of the wait we now have an amazing new school. Building a new school is a once in a lifetime experience for a school and for me,” says Mary-Lou. “It’s a very clever use of space and while the classrooms are separate, there are operable glass sliding doors between some rooms to create flexible learning environments.“ “The school is earthquake resistant as the new structures are not connected to the warehouse’s outside walls. It an incredible use of space that is warm, light-filled and welcoming,” she says. The school is divided into six blocks covering administration and curriculum areas. The main feature of the school is a chapel which is at the heart of the school and the first thing seen on entering the building. Other facilities include a large covered sports court area, gymnasium and atrium areas. A wide set of Learning Stairs from the atrium provide space for students to work or socialise with plugs for charging laptops and phones, as well as access to the second floor. The 3.16 hectare site was bought by the Diocese of Christchurch in February 2019 and Proudly supporting the Marian College development We install structured cabling into Commercial Buildings, Businesses, Schools. Our other services include Fibre Optic Cabling, Security and AV Cabling. Free Quotes No Obligation Brent Richardson 0274 839 530 PO Box 2908 Christchurch Brent@kiwicoms.co.nz Ph: 381 5600 Heating Air Conditioning Ventilation 03 379 4832 | sales@beattieair.co.nz | beattieair.co.nz Beattie Air are proud to be associated with Marian College 55 Hickory Place, Islington | PO Box 16 385, Hornby, Christchurch 8441 Your experts in HVAC design build construction started in 2021 with a team from Armitage Williams Construction. A cooperative project group consisting of the Catholic Diocese, Catholic Education Office, Marian College, Sheppard and Rout Architects and Cequent Project Management has worked closely with the building company. “Armitage Williams has been fantastic to work with and they have turned our vision into a reality,” believes Mary-Lou.
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