Business South May 2023

| 95 COMMUNITY Mt Aspiring College Redevelopment: Naylor Love Five-stage redevelopment masterplan for Mt Aspiring One of two new buildings on campus is now complete, providing a welcome home to the Intermediate school, along with performing and visual arts. T T Ange Davidson Mt Aspiring College is progressing through a redevelopment masterplan to keep the community school in step with Wānaka’s rapidly expanding population. Once a holiday resort, the lakeside town is now a central hub and home to a diverse community and a school role of 1230 students. The student numbers reflect the town’s growing community, and the role is predicted to reach 1800 students within the next five years. Mt Aspiring College principal, Nicola Jacobsen, says the growth is manageable thanks to a five-stage redevelopment masterplan that was a collaboration between the school, the Ministry of Education and Athfields Architects in Christchurch. One of two new buildings on campus is now complete, providing a welcome home to the Intermediate school, along with performing and visual arts. “Our Year Seven and Eight students have the first floor of one of the new buildings. It’s the first time they’ve had a permanent home in the school where they have their own space and can build their own culture and identity. Their floor has a mix of open spaces and classrooms plus break out rooms which are deal for teaching in a more traditional way as well as collaborating with other teachers and students,” says Nicola. “The students get the benefit of the security of a main teacher with other teachers in support.” The ground floor houses music and performance, with a sound recording studio and a black box theatre. There are visual arts, robotics and a new library. The second new building will be the school’s whare, administration, staff room and a well-being hub. Upstairs are classrooms for languages and room for the senior leadership team. “We’ve built most of a new school in just two years which is not a long time for the scale of the work. Naylor Love Construction has managed the building process through incredibly challenging times with Covid and supply chain issues. The new building is a credit to them,” believes Nicola. The next stage in the redevelopment plan is provision for a new gymnasium. Funding for the project is applied for through the Ministry of Education. “We’re in constant communication with our property manager within the ministry and submit role data quarterly to ensure they’re up to date with what’s happening and what our needs are. The property manager then presents our case to the ministry for funding. You’re in competition with every school in New Zealand so you need to be realistic about what you can do. We’re fortunate to have a masterplan to work from and we’re at Stage Three of our five stage plan.” she says. “There’s flexibility within the plan that allows for the school’s expected growth but regardless of the number of students we have, it’s about individual learning journeys. We have a really dynamic staff who are committed to making this the best school with world class learning opportunities.” We are a community school and a reflection of the entire community. Wānaka is a fabulous place and a lot of people move here for a specific purpose and that is the environment and a desire to look after it. Lockdown and people working from home has changed Wānaka from a holiday town to a great place to live,” says Nicola. “Our Year Seven and Eight students have the first floor of one of the new buildings. It’s the first time they’ve had a permanent home.” One team for all interior construction solutions. ICON provides all the trades and experience you need to complete your interior fit-out project in a single contractor. CONSTRUCTION Interior 022 470 2485 interiorconstruction.co.nz HOUSE REMOVALS Buy & Sell New + Used Homes • Building removals • Houselifting, rolling & repositioning • Relevelling & repiling • Basement lifts • Concrete slab relevelling • 4x4 axle hydraulic steering trailers • Latest jacking systems to lift houses to 3m for foundation repairs “The Sign of a Professional” Family owned since 1959 With over 100 years combined experience Warren 027 449 7996 | Email: office@kinghouseremovals.co.nz | www.kinghouseremovals.co.nz Suppliers & Installers of: • Tray roofing • Corrugate / 5 Rib • True Oak • Rooflogic System • TPO & Torch on membrane roofing • Metrotile • Windsor Garage Doors • Premier Insulation • Scaffolding P: 03 445 0553 • E: info@extremeroofing.co.nz

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