Sydney Morning Herald  - 10 November, 2011

Mix of Old and New
Private Schools, $5m to $10m
The Kate Mason building at Pymble Ladies' College is a striking mix of the traditional and contemporary, with its classic brickwork contrasting with a dramatic pitched roof.
The two existing buildings on the site of the historical college were demolished and replaced with a three-level learning centre.  The new building includes classrooms, administration areas, a lecture theatre and open areas. 
"From the perspective of the design team, the design and construction was very smooth and allowed us to complete the project on time and on budget," Grindley Construction joint managing director Ron Burger says.  "As the school principal noted at the building's grand opening, this is very unusual in the construction industry." 
The project has won the Master Builders Association Construction Award for private school work valued between $5 million and $10 million. 
So what was it that impressed the judges? "The quality of the brickwork, both external and internal", a judge, Tony Wood, says. "Some of it was very detailed, with patterns and corbelling, and done to match the other fine brickwork of the college."
Another feature that caught the judges' eye was the total of 10 different ceiling finishes and systems.
Grindley Construction's carpenters also had to devise an innovative method to steam the timber for the curved seat at the building's entrance, to prevent it breaking.
The airflow to the central area is also innovative, with glass louvres that open and close automatically on signals from a weather station.
"I have to give a lot of credit to the architects, pmdl, who have done a lot of work with the school before," Burger says.  "Personally, I'm most proud of the video-conferencing facility. It's a space-age-Iooking round room kitted out by Cisco and, for me, is the coolest thing about the whole project. "

Clive Hopkins

News  |  In The Press, 06/12/2011