The New General Learning Centre for Claremont Special School is a 10 classroom GLA with outdoor learning spaces, amenities, and playgrounds that seamlessly integrate with the existing campus, supporting a contemporary and connected learning environment. The project reflects the school's vision through secure, flexible and inclusive spaces enhanced by natural light, ventilation, and thoughtful acoustic design. The building wraps around various outdoor play and learning spaces providing adaptable settings that support a broad range of educational activities and practical life skills learning. Peddle Thorp ensured that accessibility to all outdoor learning and play spaces was equitable and inclusive, ensuring every student has access to this equipment.
A defining achievement of the project saw the transformation of one of the campus’s most challenging sites. Located on a steep and previously underutilised parcel of land, the site was well connected to the school’s learning precinct but had long been considered difficult to develop. Through innovative planning and design, Peddle Thorp unlocked the potential of this complex site, delivering a significant new educational facility that has become an integral part of the campus.
The resulting three-storey building, together with two playgrounds has maximised the site's potential and delivered some of the school's most valued facilities.
Reflecting on the first 12 months in the new building the School Principal highlighted the success of the outdoor learning environments, both in its positive impact to student life on campus but also its resilience to the complex stormwater challenges of the site. They also identified the project's acoustic performance as a key success, noting the calm, comfortable learning environments it has created for students while maintaining clear speech intelligibility.
By reimagining what was possible on a challenging site, Peddle Thorp transformed constrained land into a vibrant educational asset that is already providing lasting value to the school community.