Montessori School North Sydney is an educational project for Cameragal Montessori School, located in Sydney’s lower North Shore. Ciliberto Architects were engaged to prepare a master plan for the school’s satellite campus. The brief was to expand the existing school’s footprint while maintaining the quality of teaching and play space.

Following the establishment of the master plan,  we undertook a number of interviews and workshops with the project’s stakeholders, including the school’s board, teaching staff and parent community, to understand their needs and develop the brief. 

Ciliberto was further engaged to carry out Stage One, involving the restoration and renovation of a heritage-listed cottage, turning it into a flexible and multi-functional teaching space. The cottage is located on the neighbouring site to the existing heritage listed-sandstone Montessori classroom.

Carefully selected internal walls were removed to transform the house into a classroom for 30 students. Custom furniture was designed to precisely suit both the pedagogies working methods and the new spaces. A series of new skylights were introduced to bring direct sunlight into the centre of the building creating a well lit work environment. The simple material and colour palette was selected to achieve a sense of calm and order across the classroom.

The rear of the building was heavily modified to accomodate an open kitchen for learning as well as daily food preparation. New large sliding glass doors open out to the garden allowing seamless indoor/outdoor lessons. The external courtyards and circulation pathways were designed to create a better connection between the two buildings. A permanent table is located in the centre of the project, large enough to seat the entire school, symbolising the school community. 

The project involved a number of complexities. Working within a heritage-listed building required careful negotiation with council planners and the heritage department to ensure that the construction and design methodology did not compromise the original building fabric. Adapting the building from a residence to an educational facility necessitated careful consultation with local council to successfully achieve a change of use. As a Class 9B accredited school building, we were required to adhere to strict guidelines for universal access and fire safety in the design & planning of this building.

Architecture & Interiors: Ciliberto Architects
Client: Cameragal Montessori School
Structural Engineer: Cantilever Consulting Engineers
Builder: Ballast Construction
Heritage Consultant: PCN Urban
Certifier: Concise Certification
Access Consultant: Code Performance
Fire Safety Consultant: Code Performance
Acoustic Consultant: Day Design
Traffic Engineer: Varga Traffic Planning
Photographer: Clinton Weaver