Case Studies
Mount Alvernia College Community Garden
Design Feature
Type of Project
Landowner Initiative
State
Queensland
Location
Urban
Mount Alvernia College is a small Catholic secondary girls’ school in Brisbane, operated by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. After being commissioned to complete the College’s masterplan in 2011, m3architecture proposed a school based around three gardens; a community garden, a garden for gathering and a recreation garden.
The precinct now consists of Mount Alvernia College’s La Verna Building, Anthony Building and La Foresta Garden, all of which were designed by m3architecture. Stage 1 – La Verna was completed in January 2014, and Stage 2 – Anthony and La Foresta was completed in January 2015.
The precinct now consists of Mount Alvernia College’s La Verna Building, Anthony Building and La Foresta Garden, all of which were designed by m3architecture. Stage 1 – La Verna was completed in January 2014, and Stage 2 – Anthony and La Foresta was completed in January 2015.
Fruitful learning
The Mount Alvernia College Community Garden provides staff and students with an ornamental and edible kitchen garden, new home economics facility and an Italian-inspired canteen and café. Future projects for the school include redeveloping and refurbishing original buildings as required to cater for growth in the school's population.
The project design reflects the school’s Franciscan history, St Francis’ love of the natural world (as patron saint of flora and fauna) and emphasises the importance of the relationship between humankind and nature. Preserving visual reminders of heritage and a strong cultural identity help to create a sense of place.
The main social space sits adjacent to the school cafeteria, ‘La Cucina’, and faces north into the garden.
The main social space sits adjacent to the school cafeteria, ‘La Cucina’, and faces north into the garden.
It is a modern purpose-built facility providing healthy, fresh meals for students, staff and visitors to the College. Conceived as an oversized floating picnic rug, the building features an active ground floor that encourages pedestrian activity and is broken up by columns that create spaces within the whole. The buildings themselves structure the garden, resulting in a sympathetic relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces.
The community garden, located as the public face of Mount Alvernia College, is substantially fruitful and acts as a place of learning, flanked by science labs, home economics spaces and General Learning Areas (GLAs). The productive garden is named La Foresta after the site in the Italian Rieti Valley where St Francis once sought sanctuary. This edible landscape forms an attractive community focal point for students to connect around the subject of healthy food. A large proportion of the curriculum is intended to be based around the garden and the education on healthy food it can offer.
Students spend most daylight hours at school so it’s important that the school's design has a positive impact on the student’s health and wellbeing. At Mt Alvernia College, a positive impact was achieved through the provision of 20 new classrooms, six laboratories, three home economics spaces, commercial kitchen and cafeteria, administration, a prayer space, a roof terrace, and the community garden.
Students spend most daylight hours at school so it’s important that the school's design has a positive impact on the student’s health and wellbeing. At Mt Alvernia College, a positive impact was achieved through the provision of 20 new classrooms, six laboratories, three home economics spaces, commercial kitchen and cafeteria, administration, a prayer space, a roof terrace, and the community garden.
Project team
- m3architecture
- Lat27
- Bligh Tanner
- Mount Alvernia College
Project Cost
Unavailable
Health value
- Provides the whole school community with nutrient-dense fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs and an opportunity for students and visitors to engage in physical activity whilst gardening.
- The garden is used by the teaching faculty as an outdoor education space to teach students about heathy eating and where food comes from.
- The garden ultimately encourages and supports the development of healthy behaviours at a young age, which can be continued later in life.
Economic value
- Through the production of freely accessible, locally grown food, the community garden contributes economic value to the Mount Alvernia College community.
- Furthermore, the La Verna Building, Anthony Building and La Foresta Garden collectively boost the desirability of Mount Alvernia College for future students.
Environmental value
- The Anthony Building, which was constructed with the new community garden and canteen, faces East / West allowing the classroom to catch cool breezes from nearby Moreton Bay while fabric sunshades on both sides help keep off direct sun. This helps alleviate the need for air-conditioning though the building year-round.
Social value
- The Mount Alvernia community garden creates meaningful, hands on opportunities to get involved, learn how to grow food and help maintain the shared community space and offers students a space to gather and eat lunch together.
Use value
- The Mount Alvernia community garden acts as a community hub and meeting place and provides value in its variety of uses. Students are welcome to engage in healthy behaviours by picking fruit, vegetables and herbs in the space. Furthermore, the gardens provide outdoor classrooms for student learning.
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