Salisbury East High School Arts Facility Redevelopment

The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) engaged Pascale Construction to undertake the construction of a new 1,050m2 Performing Arts building and extensive building upgrade works, at the Salisbury East High School.

The works included construction of new art, multimedia, music and dance rooms, associated change rooms and facilities, a new link bridge to the refurbished Senior Centre for year 12 students together with a new lift to the administration building.

A steel framed building lined with masonry walls, feature render walls, Vitrapanel cladding and commercial aluminium windows houses the new arts facility. Internally, it features ply wall and ceiling cladding, an acoustically rated dance room with retractable seating and music rooms with special audio-visual equipment and custom-made joinery to store musical instruments and display cabinets.

Through collaboration between the design, client and construction teams, expectations were clearly understood and all parties were able to work towards a common goal whilst managing challenging time frames.

Requiring exceptional attention to detail, the outdoor works comprised the construction of two new external shelters for learning and recreation, a raised lawn amphitheatre for presentations, a memorial featuring Carey Gully stone and masonry with exposed aggregate pavement, and new landscaped areas including paving, planting and street furniture.

The upgrade works consisted of the refurbishment of textiles and home economics spaces, as well as external play areas including basketball and netball facilities. The works were undertaken in an operating school, hence, it was significantly challenging and of high importance to maintain a safe operational environment and a segregation of subcontractors, staff and students and to provide safe operational access.  Staff and students comfort during and after construction was paramount, and the project team was able to seamlessly deliver the buildings in stages with minimum disruption.

The discovery of site contamination impacted on methodology of materials handling.  Through coordination between Pascale and the stakeholders, areas were provided to stockpile the fill which was deemed suitable to retain on site. Pascale Construction proposed and implemented an economical and practical solution for this challenge

According to the school, the open night held on the 6^th of May 2015 was a success and the new facilities provided a significant opportunity to increase enrolments for 2016.

For the former students, the new works have lifted the space up and lead to a vibrant creative arts program, which will be running in the new arts facility. The year 12 students now have an exceptional up to date space for learning in the refurbished Senior Centre.

Our relationship with the school has been exceptional and we have worked well together to meet our objectives whilst allowing the school to carry on with its day-to-day business with minimal interruptions. The design team has also contributed significantly towards managing the needs of the project in a timely manner.