We’ve always loved working with schools.
The breadth of uses and needs excites us – always letting us push the boundaries of what a Harwyn pod can be. And for schools, the multipurpose potential of our pods is a huge drawcard. It’s a win-win collaboration. Every time. With a huge mix of uses including music pods, office space or demountable classrooms, schools turn to Harwyn for any of their space needs.
In 2022, we launched brand-new projects with schools across the country. And we revisited past projects, eager to see how they’ve evolved.
2023 promises to be just as exciting. But before we look ahead, we’re looking back: on three of last year’s standout school stories.
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar – Gelorup, WA
Scope: Harwyn Mega x3
Area: 30m2
Use: Music tuition – music pods
One of our top stories of 2022 is also our most recent: three vibrant music pods at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar (BCG).
The school needed new spaces for its ever-growing music program. Their existing music room was less inspiring than they’d like – and it simply couldn’t house every student.
BCG isn’t the first school to approach us about its music program. Our pods’ acoustic control makes them ideal for music practice: students can play their instruments in a soundproof and sound-enhancing space – without disrupting those outside it.
But it wasn’t just about the sound. We injected life and colour into BCG’s learning environment with highlights of red, blue and green. And adorned the exteriors with musical notations of Waltzing Matilda.
All in all, the pods are a hit.
“If students have a lesson back in the old building, we hear a lot of ‘Aw, why don’t I get to use the pod? Why do they get to use the pod?’” laughed Lynette Fahie, Head of Music.
“There’s so much excitement around them.”
Huntingtower School – Mount Waverley, VIC
Scope: Harwyn Mega x2 (conjoined as 1 classroom)
Area: 62m2
Use: STEM lab
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) equips students with crucial skills. The workforce increasingly demands them, but not enough students are acquiring them.
And Huntingtower School knows it.
They needed a purpose-built STEM lab – a standard science lab, to quote Head of STEM Greg Hellard, just wouldn’t cut it.
“I’m pushing my students to innovate, to be different, to think outside the box,” Greg told us earlier this year. “And I need the right environment and atmosphere to inspire that type of thinking.”
Coated in an eye-catching electric blue – and fitted with a wheelchair ramp, deck and solar panels – our pod ticks those boxes.
“It’s orthogonal, it’s cubed, it has a sexy metal finish,” said Greg.
“We’ve created an engaging space that’s not just a classroom, but a conversation starter.”
Bacchus Marsh Grammar – Bacchus Marsh, VIC
Scope: Harwyn custom double-storey demountable classroom
Area: 80m2
Use: Mixed (office, music and teaching)
Most often, schools approach us about new teaching spaces. But our pods aren’t just designed for students: the staff are always on our mind too.
That’s why it was such a pleasure to design a double-storey demountable classrooms/mixed use space for Bacchus Marsh Grammar (BMG).
On the top floor, the teachers have a quiet, private space. And below? Extra mixed use classrooms for teachers and students alike.
After building four music tuition rooms for BMG’s Maddingly campus in 2017, we were excited to return for round two. For Property Manager Nam-Ha Quach, the feeling was mutual.
“We’d done some previous business with Harwyn, and it was clear that no one else would be able to deliver on time,” Nam-Ha said when we caught up with him. “Not even close.”
And we didn’t just deliver on time – the double-storey design created more space for learning, without encroaching on the spaces where students play.
Want to see your school in our top stories of 2023? If this year is shaping up to be a year of change, enquire today.
Also read about more about school demountable classrooms.