Cementing a new school's identity
Preston High School emerged in 2019, transforming the former Preston Girls’ Secondary College site into a co-educational learning campus. With a quick-earned reputation for academic rigor, the school embarked on a phased capital works program to enrich its new cohort. As Stage 3 of the masterplan, Higgins delivered a functional STEAM centre through a fast-tracked construction program driven by the VSBA. Standing at four levels, this vertical venture maximises space within a limited site and efficiently accommodates half of the student population.

Room for half the school population with spaces that mirror tertiary settings
With a range of flexible learning areas, specialist facilities, and collaborative zones, the learning centre accommodates the diverse educational requirements of students of varying ages. Acting as the energetic core of the hub, the ground floor encompasses a library, science laboratories, music studios, and wellness centres. The intermediate floors on Level 1 and 2 create a unified middle-year learning centre, linked by an open-tiered seating and circulation space. Crowning the structure is a dedicated senior study space with advanced learning and presentation spaces and an expansive outdoor terrace.

Significant construction in a live school environment
We managed the building program within the middle of the active school campus. Beginning with demolition, we safely removed the existing structures to prepare the site foundations. We then developed the core structure, comprising a ground-level raft slab, three successive post-tension slabs, dual precast concrete stair cores, and a lift shaft, culminating in a structural steel superstructure at the fourth level.