Willow Park Junior School

Bortolotto’s addition to Willow Park Junior Public School houses new purpose-built Kindergarten classrooms on the inside and reimagines the school’s façade on the outside. The design breathes new life into the building’s street-facing presence, thereby re-energizing the school itself as well as the surrounding community.

The complexity of the façade’s detailing belies the deliberate simplicity of the overall form. We designed a chamfered frame to recess the windows and angle the walls to create a sense of depth and dynamism. Sloped phenolic panels act like portals, drawing the eye inward and animating the building’s surface. We deployed contrasting colours and materials to enhance this three-dimensional skin, with a careful consideration for the articulations at the building’s corners. The result is a quiet yet expressive architectural gesture that revitalizes the school and its presence in the neighbourhood.

Our mandate also included improvements to the outdoor play area, the interior design of the new classrooms, as well as upgrades to the existing Kindergarten classrooms and cubbies.