The proposed International Maarif School of Australia, Gallipoli Campus will be the first of its kind in Australia, catering to students from years K to 12 in an integrated education campus. The design is for 728 students as a two stream school to meet the growing need for a contemporary educational facility which services its local community in the same faith and culture. The three storey urban proposal incorporates primary and secondary general, specialist and support facilities organised around a central community heart.

The proposed school site in Auburn has a strong sense of connection being in close proximity to the iconic Gallipoli Mosque and good access to supporting local and community services such as sporting & recreational facilities. The proposal goes beyond a collection of classrooms and corridors, in providing a strong sense of community both internally and externally.

CLIENT Australian Turkish Maarif Foundation

LOCATION Auburn, NSW, Australia

STATUS On-going

YEAR 2020

SCALE 8,000sqm

The massing of the building responds to the varying heights of the surroundings, with the building envelope aligning with Percy St and Gelibolu Pde, and cascading down to the north, opening up to outdoor landscaped play areas for the students but also allowing daylight to penetrate the internal facing building façades.

Landscaped terraced areas also provide opportunity for outdoor learning for students. The Percy St and Gelibolu Pde corner provides opportunity as a focal point and for a continuous facade ribbon element to wrap around the street façades by arrangement of perforated screens revealing the central heart of the building.

This central heart is the main gathering space for the school and its community to come together and celebrate the joy of learning and knowledge.