The new extension to Byron Community Primary School was officially handed over on a sunny day toward the end of the school holidays. According to the school’s finance and administration manager Frank Binkley, ‘The kids left at the end of Term 2 with a construction area all over the school ... Some days I wasn’t sure who was the loudest, the kids or the construction workers!’

The project, which has taken about nine months, was  made possible thanks to four Commonwealth government grants which ‘fortunately all came together at the same time’,  Frank told The Echo. The brief was to create a new library, a new multi-purpose space, new toilet facilities, a canteen, administration area, art studio, IT and learning support studio and the ‘Treehouse’ administration building – which, being Stage One, has already been utilised. 

‘Everything’s on course and it’s a nice day to hand over’, manager for Woollams Construction Nathan Linton-France said. Woollams Construction worked alongside local architects Space Studio to transform the 22-year old school into a series of environmentally sensitive facilities spaced around a central play area.
Architect Sarah Aldridge said that ‘the original brief for the school was to be environmentally conscious. We were very keen on lots of air and light, solar shading and louvres offering the maximum amount of ventilation ... In Byron it’s mad not to capitalise on the weather and the temperate climate. That was the point – to make the building respond to its location.

‘We’ve tried to make it very responsive – to be really comfortable both in winter and summer ... It’s all about keeping the sun out but keeping ventilation and light.’
To this end the upstairs library (complete with brightly coloured ottomans and leading into an IT room) has a zig-zag wall. ‘We invented it!’ Sarah said. ‘You still get the light but it gets diffused with the zig-zags.’

Fundamental to the project was the consultation involved with both children and parents.  ‘The school has a lot of character’, said Sarah, ‘with strong ideas as to what it wants to do. We asked the kids what they wanted and they said “Monkey bars!”. They were really engaged in the whole process.’ 
Photo Caroline Desmond