Walk in the park clever solution for Ultimo Public School
Release date: 29 January 2018
Students and staff of Ultimo Public School will go back to school tomorrow to a unique, pop-up campus – built temporarily on Wentworth Park – as their former school site is redeveloped into a cutting-edge school of the future.
Scaffolding and construction crews have replaced students and classrooms at the Wattle Street site as work begins to complete the brand new, 30 classroom Ultimo Public school that will increase its capacity to 800 students. The redevelopment is being funded through the NSW Government’s record $4.2 billion school building program.
On the designs of the ambitious inner city project, Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the new school has been cleverly designed to maximise space for students, despite it being located in one of Sydney’s most densely populated suburbs on the City’s fringe.
“Ultimo has been transformed over the last decade into a cosmopolitan urban community which is reflected in the design of this brand new school,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Also on site at the new educational village will be:
- A library;
- A hall;
- Indoor and outdoor play spaces;
- Afterschool facilities; and
- Space for a future early learning centre (with internal fit out to be undertaken at a later date by the childcare provider).
While the groundbreaking facility is under re-development, a novel approach has been taken to minimise the impact on the school’s current 360 students, by placing them in a pop-up school on Wentworth Park, just across the road.
Built over seven months, the pop-up campus has been shipped into the park where it will provide 14 classrooms, as well as a raft of core facilities including a library, school hall, canteen and administration space.
Ms Berejiklian and Mr Stokes toured the facility today to showcase the innovative solutions being developed as the Government undertakes the biggest capital works program in the State’s history.
Mr Stokes said the pop-up school has been designed to provide a seamless education experience and a novelty for the students.
“Building more schools than any point in the State’s history greatly benefits the students of tomorrow, and will deliver the best possible learning environments for the students of today,” Mr Stokes said.
“This project is a fantastic educational village, inside Wentworth Park. It is my great hope that the students not only enjoy their time here, but excel.”
