Light Her Path
The Benefits of Good Architecture in Schools
Our time at school is formative, shaping us educationally and also more broadly as a person. Beautiful design in school buildings can enhance the experience of students and teachers in both obvious and unexpected ways. The Light Her Path Capital Campaign is raising funds to redevelop Wilkinson House to ensure it is fit for the demands of 21st century learning. The new plans also deliver a building that will inspire, melding respect for the history of the building with leading edge design. As Winston Churchill said, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.”
A great deal is expected of school buildings. We want them to be conducive to learning. We want them to inspire the teachers and the students within them. We expect them to be part of the process that shapes learners and ideas. We want them to help foster unpredictable and imaginative encounters with people and ideas.
Importantly, we want them to reinforce the cultural values of the school and its surrounds. We want them to serve the present and the future of education and to incorporate technology and its evolution. At the same time, buildings are also expected to talk to the heritage and shape of the school campus, and the social character of its community.
We understand the benefits of incorporating natural light, the comfort of natural air flow and the importance of demonstrating sustainability. And yet a school building needs also to be functional and robust enough to withstand the antics and unexpected movement of many, many children and teenagers.
School buildings are also significant markers in the lives of their users. Memories are made in schools – This is the staircase where I first encountered my best friend… this is the science lab that sparked a lifelong love of chemistry… this is the stage where I tried out for the musical… this is where I taught my first Year 12 class.
In the UK, a government analysis of primary and secondary schools and a nation-wide survey of teachers showed that 9 in 10 teachers believe school design is important and specifically that layout and circulation is important for good pupil behaviour. Also significant for the UK government, good school design was shown to enhance productivity and reduce running costs.
SCEGGS’ plans for Wilkinson House are more modest than many school projects, but we remain ambitious in seeking to combine all of these elements in the new Wilkinson House. If you have seen the plans from the architect (Smart Design Studios) and experienced the enthusiasm of Jenny Allum and other members of the school community for the proposed redevelopment, you will understand that it is already engendering excitement and a great sense of pride and identity.
The Light Her Path Capital Campaign is seeking to raise $20 million:
- $12 million this year to ensure we can bring the new designs for Wilkinson House, melding heritage and function, to life
- a further $8 million to expand SCEGGS’ scholarship program from the 35 girls currently supported by means-tested scholarships.
We invite every person in our community to give as generously as they can.
See the proposed plans for Wilkinson House on our website. You may also pledge to the Light Her Path Capital Campaign or call the SCEGGS Development Office on (02) 9332 1133.
The Light Her Path Committee
