Education and childcare architects
Schools and childcare that inspire learning
Classrooms, early learning centres, auditoriums and campus master plans for schools and childcare operators across South East Queensland and NSW.
hhh architects designs schools, childcare and early learning centres across South East Queensland and NSW. The practice has been college architect to Emmanuel College at Carrara for more than two decades, and designed Josiah College, one of the first purpose-designed autism-specific schools in Queensland.
Education & Childcare
Poetic, not merely pragmatic
The right architecture can inspire creativity and imagination in the next generation. Education architecture needs careful analysis of teaching pedagogy, practical needs, context, outlook and orientation, and above all the school's ethos and aspirations. In education, the spaces between buildings can matter as much as the buildings themselves.
We have designed and delivered education and childcare facilities across South East Queensland, NSW and as far south as Sydney. Working with public bodies, private schools, childcare developers and operators, we work to understand every stakeholder's objectives and deliver on time and on budget.
Funding, scenario mapping, health and safety and compliance should never get in the way of buildings that stimulate children's development. We design for today's needs while planning for tomorrow, and offer campus master planning for staged development and maintenance.
What we design
From early years to senior school
General learning areas
Flexible classrooms that support current pedagogy, like the Year 7 hub in Emmanuel College's Bonner Building.
Junior school and early years
Early years centres and junior school extensions that link previously isolated buildings.
Specialist learning
Science labs, technology, art and cooking classrooms, and learn-to-swim facilities.
Auditoriums and chapels
The 460-seat Emmanuel Auditorium with a full fly tower, and the Chapel Court classrooms.
Childcare and early learning
Kids Academy at Hope Island and Gregory Hills, Sunkids, Redleaf and St Bernards.
Campus master planning
Staged development and maintenance plans that let a campus grow without hindrance.
Featured projects
Education & Childcare projects
Josiah College
Carrara · Founded by Emmanuel College on an adjacent greenfield site, Josiah College is an autism-specific school.
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Emmanuel College Bonner Building Stage 1
Carrara · Initially envisioned as the new Year 7 hub in the senior school precinct, Stage 1 of the Bonner Building at Emmanuel College saw the...
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Emmanuel Junior School & Learn to Swim
Carrara · This small but complex project replaces an aged toilet block with a 1,320m² two-storey extension of the Junior School.
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Emmanuel Auditorium
Carrara · This 460 seat auditorium is designed, as per the College Master Plan, to connect to the existing Performing Arts building which contains...
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Emmanuel Early Learning
Carrara · A small but complex project consisting of a new 6 classroom wing linked to extensively renovated existing building to create a self...
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Emmanuel Chapel
Carrara · Part of the BER stimulus package, this project was designed & documented in a compressed time frame.
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Emmanuel Junior School Extension
Carrara · The Emmanuel college junior extension is a small but complex project that replaces an aged toilet block with a new Junior Extension housing...
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Australian Air Academy
Tamworth · The only first class commercial Pilot Air Academy in the southern hemisphere, this facility was purpose designed for British Aerospace /...
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More of our work
Projects from our archive, beyond the featured case studies above.
Education and childcare project list (20)
Insights
Further reading
Josiah College: Creating an Autism-Specific Learning Environment
It’s that time of the year when as parents we are both dreading and wishing to ‘bring on the holidays’. Yes we need the time out too but what do you...
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Young people nowadays! (have the best educational facilities ever)
Traditional teacher focussed classrooms are a thing of the past as schools prepare their students for the 21st century workforce where life-long...
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Creative Architecture for Childcare Centres
We think traditional, single-purpose childcare centres are on the way out. For a child to really be prepared for school and the years beyond, they...
Read moreQuestions
Asked and answered
Do you offer campus master planning?
Yes. We prepare campus master plans to guide staged development and maintenance, so new buildings support future growth rather than hinder it.
Have you designed for students with autism?
Yes. Josiah College at Carrara, founded by Emmanuel College, is an autism-specific school. Classes of eight, withdrawal spaces, soft south light and clear, rational movement paths were designed with the school's co-directors.
Can you deliver to a government funding timetable?
Yes. The Emmanuel College Chapel Court classrooms were part of the BER stimulus package and were designed and documented in a compressed time frame.
Do you design childcare centres?
Yes, including Kids Academy at Hope Island and Gregory Hills. We see childcare centres becoming destination centres with programs such as fitness, and we design for that.
Next step
Tell us about your project.
New build, refurbishment or a site you are thinking of buying: start with a conversation with our directors about the brief, the site and what it could yield.
Contact
Start with a conversation
Tell us about the site and what you have in mind, and one of our directors will come back to you to talk it through.