Strathnairn Primary School

A landscape concept for Strathnairn Primary School — inspired by the landform and character of the nearby Murrumbidgee River Corridor.

Location
Strathnairn, ACT
Client
ACT Government
Timeframe
2021–2022
Key services
Landscape Architecture;
Landscape Concept and
Landscape Master Planning
Collaborators
CK Architecture
INDESCO
Project type
Education

University of Canberra Building 1 Courtyard. Image: Place Logic.

Place Logic were engaged to provide landscape architectural design services to PSP for the new Strathnairn Primary School (ACT Government), in the Ginninderry development in West Belconnen. The landscape concept takes inspiration from the landform and character of the Murrumbidgee River Corridor.

The landscape design celebrates and utilises the existing topography and natural assets to create a journey through the landscape and built form. Taking cues from the river's movement patterns, and the layered, playful nature of undulating hills, the landscape references the journey of the river through a network of main movement pathways and pockets for activity.

A conceptual layout plan was developed with consideration to staff and student movements, as well as maintenance of significant trees and of fauna and flora endemic to the site.

For this project, we adhered to Ginninderry's Green Star requirements; incorporating Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD), Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), productive landscapes, and cultural heritage initiatives to meet and implement best-practice design through living infrastructure to reduce, offset and counter-act the negative impacts of construction on the climate and environment.

In addition, to mitigate the impact of the Urban Heat Island effect, the project achieves a proposed tree canopy coverage of >30% of the total site area, while managing the conservation of the majority of existing trees and fire management legislation.

Illustrative concept plans: Place Logic