Preparations to build Blenheim’s new intermediate school campus at College Park are well underway with the release of concept designs of the school’s buildings.
Construction of the new campus is expected to begin next year once a new artificial turf at the co-located colleges’ campus has been built.
Once completed, Bohally Intermediate School staff and students will relocate to the new school campus – freeing space on the school’s existing property for construction to progress on the colleges’ co-location.
Bohally Intermediate School Principal, Nicky Cameron-Dunn, says the school was designed with an emphasis on meeting the specific needs of emerging adolescents. “We have retained lots of sports field areas and created a large multi-use hall.”
“The design of the buildings incorporates the teaching and learning requirements we scoped in our brief to the project’s design team, and will be fantastic spaces for our students to learn.” Nicky Cameron-Dunn says.
The school’s administration block and hall will front onto Stephenson Street, with visitors moving through a semi-covered walkway to reach the teaching spaces in the centre of the school. A second walkway entrance off Redwood Street brings manuhiri (visitors) toward the central Noninga Kumu building - the contemporary Māori heart of the school campus.
A significant feature of the buildings is the roof with high-level windows designed to bring natural light and ventilation into the teaching spaces.
Construction begins next year and the new campus for the intermediate school is expected to be completed in 2026.