ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE CAFÉ

Stage 2 of Elevation’s masterplan for St Patrick’s College included a new café and eating and gathering area. The existing tuck shop was outdated, hidden away and the queue was unsustainable, even with a staggered lunch break. We relocated the tuck shop to an underutilised space and created what has become the new central hub of the school. The new large-scale commercial kitchen and self-service café sit beneath an existing classroom and the café opens into a generous covered deck built over two existing water tanks. One side of the deck borders the main entry plaza; its simple roof form and neutral palette recede against the adjacent heritage-listed school building. The other side of the deck incorporates stepped grandstand seating as a nod to the students’ lunch-time handball tournaments. The new café can facilitate all students at the same time, so there is no longer a staggered lunch break. The old tuck shop site has been converted into two general learning areas.