Challenge

Junee pre-school is a community-owned preschool within a thriving rural town. The original pre-school building was first built as the Returned Servicemen’s Legion Club after the World War 1 but donated to the community to be run as a pre-school soon after.

They had a waitlist that was double the number of kids they could accommodate and a limited pool of funds primarily derived from fundraising by the parents and community.

Response

Put simply, the new works created double the space for the pre-school by connecting a new building to the old through a entry ‘bridge’ and vestibule. But perhaps the more important aspect of the design was that it significantly improved the relationship to the outdoor play space and gave the pre-school a full enclosed courtyard that could facilitate an easy and continual flow between inside and outside.

The design also turned the main entry to the quieter rear street where parents could arrive safely out of the way of the trucks and large agricultural machinery that regularly used the street at the front. The entry could now be more relaxed, more convivial and had the practical space needed to greeting young children and getting them settled.