This is the first major element of the broader Ralph Allen School masterplan and will form a new cornerstone to the campus. The two story Applied Learning Centre focuses on science – the foundation school’s specialist subject – comprising four classrooms, arranged in adjoining pairs around a double height “hub” breakout space for independent learning. It is designed as a porous building in the round, with teaching spaces leading out onto the learning landscape. The series of open, flexible spaces are designed around more of a university style of independent learning than the traditional school model. Constructed in cross-laminated timber, the building is partly embedded in the landscape, accessed by ramps leading up to the first floor gallery level. A hung larch façade marches across the elevations with a strong vertical rhythm, giving way to dark-stained timber at the lower level, which are also used elsewhere to express deep cuts in the building envelope. The project employs a simple, earthy palette of materials, including a rammed earth wall, gabion baskets, sweet chestnut and recycled aggregate in the polished concrete floors. The building is exceptionally green and uses a passive solar strategy for lighting, heating and cooling.