With Education Week’s theme ‘Spotlight on STEM’ this year, students, parents/carers, teachers and school communities will celebrate and share ideas to learn more about the endless possibilities of STEM.

For architects designing schools, STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is particularly relevant. Australia’s performance in science continues to decrease. With the national science curriculum shortcomings, and numbers falling compared to international rankings, it is widely accepted a significant overhaul is needed.

At Tectura, assisting to reverse this gap through STEM by design is ingrained in our approach. We have a love for lifelong learning and a quest for knowledge that luckily, we get to put into practice every day by working with clients on a range of specialist education projects.

After all, we create spaces that allow for ideas, learning and interests. By re-engaging students with maths and science through smart design, we can help turn around Australia’s curriculum and address the science and tech skills shortage in the future.

Education Week is a good opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do. And, shine a light on the full spectrum of Tectura’s work from early learning to senior school and beyond that deliver exceptional STEM outcomes.

1. Connecting the community -Integrated Children’s Centre (ICC), Box Hill Institute’s Lilydale Campus

Not just a standard childcare centre, the ICC is purpose-built and designed around sustainable principles aligned with our client’s key focus on STEM and lifelong learning. With access to a children’s STEM playground and garden, central courtyard with a continuous verandah, tricycle track, toy library and easily accessible indoor and outdoor learning environments, the building encourages children’s natural curiosity to investigate, explore, observe, wonder, make, test, think and problem solve.

 2. Embedding joy into learning - Wales St Primary School, Thornbury, Victoria 

Working with a heritage building presents unique challenges, and this established school enabled our team to interrogate the tight, complex, original forms and transform them into light, bright, colourful and fun spaces suited for 21st century learning. With new finishes, fixtures, operable walls and adaptable furniture and joinery, the classrooms enable flexibility and collaboration, while the specialist STEM areas and student breakout spaces feel playful, lively and energetic with a green screen media space, Lego wall and patterned carpeting. Along with a new ramp entrance to enhance student agency and accessibility, this is a joyful building that is tailored to its many users.

3. Innovation to re-engage students - Newcomb Secondary College, Geelong

By leaning into the school’s strong STEM heritage and vocational training industry connections, we refurbished specific, outdated and ill-equipped buildings to keep students at school, engaged with learning and offered greater opportunities to develop future career pathways. Today, the school features exceptional high-quality STEM and learning spaces, including a new auditorium that converts into a STEM testing and learning space, bicycle fixing workshop with small motors capability, new acoustic-engineered music teaching rooms, Makers Space and a systems technology workshop. Practical, hands-on and highly creative, the college is inspiring students for a better future.

4. Stimulating curiosity through smart design - Banyule Nillumbik Tech School, Greensborough

With its bold patterns and bright palette, everything about this tech school was designed around a building that stimulates curiosity in young minds. As both a facilitator and teacher, it promotes experience-based learning equipped with advanced technology, electronics and media production capabilities. What makes this school special is that it has also been designed to encourage young women to participate in STEM/STEAM spaces; women comprise only 16 per cent of the total STEM workforce. With a warm and playful palette and flexible, open-plan spaces, the design also showcases an ‘equal experience’ guiding philosophy to create a circular accessible journey for all.

PROJECT

STEM Education 

LOCATION

VARIOUS, ACROSS VICTORIA