Building for Generations: A Renewed Heart for Camberwell High School
This distinctive project for our practice focused on the restoration of timber windows, the front entry, and bathrooms at Camberwell High School. Undertaken in close collaboration with the school community, this school-funded initiative recognised the importance of revitalising the main building as a way of carrying the school’s founding values into the future.
By honouring the past, we acknowledge its role in shaping a shared future. As architects committed to the careful retrofitting of older buildings, we invested deeply in the process of restoration and renewal—contributing meaningfully to the life of the school community. We worked closely with building contractors, specialist window restorers, and other trades to retain as much of the original fabric as possible. The original glazing was replaced, and each window opening weather-sealed to improve the thermal comfort of interior spaces.
Restoration extended to other areas of the building as well, with attention given to retaining existing blinds, hardware, and other original features—demonstrating our commitment to detail and our ability to resolve building works while preserving important heritage elements.
What is most remarkable is that the completed works have delivered a building that feels renewed—one that now serves the school community as a place that belongs equally to the past, present, and future.
Originally designed in 1941 by Percy Everitt, then Head of the Victorian Public Works Department, this impressive heritage building required a sensitive and considered approach to the conservation of its original facades. In total, 68 timber windows were meticulously restored, the front entry steps made safe, and the original bathrooms upgraded to meet contemporary standards.
Our approach was to respect the building’s original character and architectural features while enhancing its sustainability performance—without compromising the integrity of this iconic structure at the heart of the school.
We are proud to have contributed to this project, which demonstrates our capacity to deliver retrofit works at scale and reflects our broader commitment to the long-term performance of institutional buildings that shape our built environment.
