MULTI-
PURPOSE
PRECINCT
KEY ELEMENTS
Our Multi-Purpose Auditorium and Sports Precinct is a bold step forward for our community and a lasting legacy for current and future generations of students.
Central within this new space will be a covered boulevard featuring a majestic colonnade of lotus flowers that leads our girls, teachers and visitors from the main New South Head gates to historic Tivoli. Imaginatively landscaped gardens will be carefully curated to reflect Kambala’s time-honoured ‘Fair Hill of Flowers’.
This ambitious vision will also incorporate the following key elements:
- Two full-sized IGSA-compliant basketball courts which can be converted into IGSA
compliant netball or volleyball courts, as well as areas for badminton and indoor soccer. - Capacity to hold up to 1,400 people for whole-of-school events, assemblies, speech days, quiz nights, galas and parent/teacher evenings.
- A state-of-the-art Strength and Conditioning Centre, featuring the latest technology and equipment to enable tailored programs for students.
- Six new Flexible Learning Spaces, designed with the finest contemporary teaching and learning theories in mind, with one which can be converted into a space to accommodate an entire year group.
- Three studios with timber sprung floors, luminous ceilings and mirrored walls for dance and other choreography.
- Change rooms and other facilities.
- A new-all weather, year-round synthetic Oval, cantilevered over the Multi-Purpose arena, to enable a comprehensive range of sports training programs and two 90 metre running lanes each with a high-performance composite rubberised surface.
- Outdoor garden areas, courtyards and landscaping for student use.
THE MULTI-PURPOSE AUDITORIUM
The Multi-Purpose Auditorium will be the defining space of the Precinct — a soaring, light-filled space capable of accommodating the entire school community.
Designed as a flexible and inspiring environment, the Auditorium can transform from a major sports arena with indoor courts to a venue for whole-school assemblies, celebrations and events that nurture wellbeing, community spirit and physical activity.
Its architecture expresses a soft, feminine sensibility through the use of warm local timber, gently curved pearly-white concrete and soft bronze accents. The most striking feature is the ceiling — a curved timber installation patterned with geometric floral motifs, echoing the “Fair Hill of Flowers” from which Kambala takes its name.
This ceiling is both an artistic and technical triumph, integrating structural, acoustic, lighting and mechanical systems with effortless elegance. A spacious mezzanine viewing gallery provides capacity for 1,400 spectators. Additional features include retractable basketball hoops, a movable court divider and a timber-sprung floor.
With its versatile design, the Multi-Purpose Auditorium will host everything from assemblies and ceremonies to sporting competitions, PDHPE classes and examinations — a true centrepiece for learning, activity, and connection.
The new Multi-Purpose Auditorium and Sports precinct will empower our girls with the space, confidence and opportunity to perform, compete and thrive.
Samantha Gooch, Deputy Principal - Pastoral Care
THE INDOOR COURTS
Kambala girls who participate in physical activities achieve higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. They learn better, they grow better, they thrive.
The Multi-Purpose Auditorium may be configured as a sports arena with indoor courts.
The specifications enable high-level competitive matches, courtesy of inclusions such as a timber-sprung floor, ceiling-mounted retractable hoops, retractable court dividers down the centre, electronic scoreboards and retractable seating for 700.
The indoor courts can be configured to provide two IGSA compliant Basketball courts, one IGSA compliant Netball court, 4 IGSA compliant Volleyball courts. The space can also be configured to offer Badminton and Indoor Soccer.
THE STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING CENTRE
Our new, state-of-the-art Strength and Conditioning Centre will be a fully equipped, 120sqm facility situated on the upper level of the Multi-Purpose Auditorium.
The Centre will enjoy a fully glazed external wall for natural light, ventilation, and connection to the outdoors. From its position along the mezzanine viewing gallery, it will have an all-encompassing view of the Multi-Purpose Auditorium.
In this space, our girls may participate in a range of individual or group strength and conditioning tailored activities, using the latest equipment and technology to provide tailored programs for students, to enhance the girls’ athletic development whilst under the supervision of experienced and highly qualified staff.
SIX FLEXIBLE LEARNING SPACES
Designed with the finest contemporary teaching and learning theories in mind, these flexible spaces can be converted into two full learning areas to accommodate entire year groups.
Each of the Learning Spaces are large enough to accommodate a wide range of delivery methods, flexible enough to be combined into one or two larger spaces and flooded with natural daylight.
These multi-function Learning Spaces have been designed to accommodate the multi-faceted requirements of curriculum delivery, collaborative learning, quiet study, co-curricular, year group gatherings, fitness, wellbeing, small functions, and everything in between.
Learning environments foster a sense of ownership and respect when they are aesthetically pleasing and encourage a connection to place. The physical environment is never simply a backdrop to the curriculum; it is an integral part of the curriculum.
Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority
Educators, My Time Our Place 2012.
THREE FLEXIBLE STUDIOS
THE OVAL
By raising the new oval nearly four metres from the current grass level, our architects’ inspired design creates a real opportunity to maximise the playing surface.
The oval is cantilevered over the road embankment on one side and over the campus Boulevard on the other, increasing the area for play and enjoyment. A state-of-the-art, all-weather synthetic surface will enable constant usage for our students year-round and means no more days lost to rain.
The oval will host multiple competitive sports, PDHPE, strength, conditioning and wellness sessions, co-curricular activities, events, gatherings and fairs. The raised level means the oval captures dazzling views across to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, bringing the Harbour deep into the heart of the Precinct.
Equipped with lift access, the oval will offer the precinct unparalleled versatility and functionality. The oval also offers two 90 metre running lanes, each with a high-performance composite rubberised surface.
THE GARDENS AND COURTYARDS
The gardens will feature elegantly-designed bench seating and will embrace seasonal plantings and mature trees to engage the senses and provide elegant, shady spaces to learn and reflect.
The gardens will be featured throughout the precinct, bringing colour and fragrance to tree-lined spaces along the Boulevard.
Our outdoor garden areas include two courtyards for our girls to enjoy.
Dr Tamara Lang, Deputy Principal - Head of Strategy, Operations and Development
THE BOULEVARD
Bridging the past and the future, our gracious new boulevard will create an elegant avenue through the precinct.
Commencing at the commanding New South Head Road gates, a new entry plaza will create a fitting sense of arrival and allow for a new entrance for the Minter Building and our new learning spaces.
Winding its way through the campus, the boulevard will be lined with trees and landscaped verdant spaces, providing intimate seating areas and shade.
Terminating at Tivoli, the boulevard opens out to another landscaped plaza, which will become the heart of our School.
THE LOTUS FLOWERS
The eleven Lotus Flowers are the iconic architectural motif for the precinct as a whole and the Multi-Purpose Auditorium and Sports Precinct at its heart.
Proudly lining the boulevard, they embody a soft and feminine sensibility, making use of warm, timber rounded flowers, gently curved concrete and soft bronze accents.
The Lotus Flowers are a sculptural, geometric feature which reflect the “Fair Hill of Flowers” from which the name ‘Kambala’ is derived.
The Lotus Flower symbolises aspiration as well as connectedness, suggesting encouragement of the individual as well as support for our girls as members of a powerful, inclusive community.
They are an artistic achievement which at the same time, have been designed to satisfy complex technical requirements, including structural, acoustic, lighting, mechanical and drainage elements, whilst poetically expressing the spirit of this special place.
Give anyone clean, light, airy, temperate and beautiful places and people will enjoy and respect them.
Jane Danvers, Principal