The first new primary school in the southern South Island for 30 years, the school's Establishment Board had a strong vision for a modern approach to teaching and the values of the school. Our ambition was to create a school that embraced those core values - one that provides a welcoming, caring and inclusive environment, serving the needs of the learning community.

An adaptable environment was required that would meet current and future pedagogical needs of the anticipated 460 school roll. With a stunning setting between Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables mountain range, Babbage wanted an architectural form that responded to and was fully integrated with the landscape.

The site presented a number of challenges for Babbage. It was approximately half the size of a typical primary school site with a 20m fall across the site. It is exposed to the prevailing winds off the Frankton Arm and with only 100m road frontage there was a limited area for drop-off and pickup. Probably the single biggest challenge, however, was the close proximity to the flight path in and out of Queenstown Airport.

As a response to the site conditions, the buildings have been arranged as a wind break around the play and external teaching areas - the social heart of the school - to enable comfortable year round use. The natural contours of the site have been used to create an outside auditorium/performance space, embraced by the buildings, which appear to be emerging from the surrounding landscape, enhanced by the natural tones of the materials used.

Design elements have been made to ‘work hard’ carrying out multiple functions, e.g. the concrete warm roof with extensive Green roof is a highly insulated thermal mass that helps maintain thermal comfort; it helps control ambient noise levels by attenuating the aircraft noise overhead and it provides additional play and learning areas for students.