St Virgil's Tasmania

Location: Austins Ferry, Tasmania

Year: 2023

Developer: St Virgils College Tasmania

Architect: Tim Penny Architecture

Builder: VOS Construction

St Virgil’s College Tasmania, was established in 1911 and is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located on the banks of the Derwent River, Austins’ Ferry, Tasmania. As part of The College’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan, a dedicated Year 11 and Year 12 Centre is the newest addition to the school’s facilities.

Tim Penny Architecture was engaged to design a Senior’s Years 11 and 12 building where students could study, learn and interact with their peers in a contemporary environment. The building design features an abundance of natural light and expansive windows to capture the views of the surrounding bushland and Derwent River. The interior design reflects the school’s vision to create dynamic, flexible and adaptable learning spaces to cater to a wide range of needs and support student wellbeing.

Working closely with the architects, Häfele Slido W-Park11 80A was specified to enable the building’s interior spaces to be quickly and efficiently transformed for a variety of purposes and support the students and teachers to flourish in the school environment. The Häfele Slido W-Park11 80A walls support the design brief to maximise flexibility and provide suitable learning spaces by minimising sound transfer between incompatible activities. The use of two, parallel operable wall systems, creates 3 smaller learning spaces which can be quickly expanded for larger groups as required. The adaptable design creates an opportunity to design a building with a smaller, more efficient footprint, as large singular, dedicated spaces are no longer required, and more outdoor space can be retained for student amenity.

The surface finish of walls is P01 Light Beige from the Häfele Slido Acoustic PET Felt range. Selected for its soft, tactile properties that also deflect sound, its 9mm, pin-able surface for the display of learning materials and its neutral tones to complement the natural palette of materials and finishes of the interior spaces.

The Häfele Slido W-Park11 80A system is fully supported by the dedicated Häfele Projects 360° team from specification through to installation and maintenance. Close collaboration with the architects in the design and documentation stages and providing fully costed supply and installation quotes at tender and construction phases ensures Häfele Slido W-Park11 80A is a cost and time efficient solution.

Together with Tim Penny Architecture and VOS Construction, Häfele are delighted to be part of the team delivering innovative and adaptable learning environments for the senior students at St Virgil’s College Tasmania.