MCKINNON SECONDARY COLLEGE EAST CAMPUS_

McKinnon Secondary College’s landscape considers adjacent internal activity within the school building to generate form and program, creating a blend between internal and external function. The ball courts and active space are placed between the internal courts and Marlborough Street Reserve to create an expanded sporting area; the sculpture and art rooms have a private outdoor courtyard to support creativity; the music and drama rooms feature an external stage and seating area; and the home economics and science rooms feature specific horticulture designed to engage with the curriculum and aid the learning experience.
The connection and interfacing between the school grounds and the adjacent Marlborough Street Reserve is key to the landscape. The concept utilises the idea of ‘borrowed landscape’ to integrate the school grounds with the wider context, blurring the boundary of the school site with existing public facilities.  The landscape is a blend between two applied grids generated by site: the building envelope and linear Virginia Park, and the oblique Marlborough Street Reserve. The shifting grid and spatial arrangement of site directs focus from the building towards Marlborough Street Reserve, creating an extension of the site boundary through visual and programmatic queues. The Southern façade continues the linear experience of Virginia Park, with penetrations through existing trees, planting and fencing to function as a Southern entrance to the school.