School: C&K Oxley Childcare Centre
Project:  Childcare Centre
Architect: Giarola Architects
Photographer: Highshots Photography  

CK Oxley Childcare Centre is a three storey 'tree house' situated in the natural bushland of Oxley. Each playroom is directly open and flexible to outdoor play areas. On a steep site, the ‘tree house’ is positioned over an imagined Oxley Creek with an abundance history of fauna and flora 

The Creek is the 'glue' to this design – from the main road, through Level 3 carpark, be-comes a waterfall then flows through the ablutions on Level 2, and a slide to Level 1 be-low. It then transforms into an Indigenous ‘Serpentine’ dry creek bed through the rear play area.

School: Hymba Yumba Independent School
Project:  Campus
Architect: Deicke Richards
Photographer: Christopher Frederick Jones 

Hymba Yumba – or ‘listening and learning place’ in the Bidjara language – is an independent P–12 school located at Springfield in Brisbane’s west. Bringing together the knowledge of First Nations elders, families and young people, the school provides an environment inextricably connected to culture. 

A key challenge for Hymba Yumba was its steeply sloping site: an irregularly-shaped 5000m2 parcel of land adjacent to the Springfield Parkway. The design process was new for the client, so we acted as an advocate from the beginning; providing support for site selection and funding applications as well as planning decisions and brief development.