Redevelopment of Facilities
Ilam School is part of the Ministry of Education's (MoE) Canterbury Schools Rebuild Programme. Our school, which is currently in Develop Design phase of this major redevelopment project, will be undergoing some changes.
This web page (and an email newsletter) will be updating you on progress as new information becomes available.
What is the project?
This is a multi-million dollar project to modernise Rooms 1 to 12 and potentially the administration block.
This is Stage 1, built for our current role. We have also made plans for Stage 2 should our school roll grow.
Where are we at?
You would have noticed a lot of schools in the greater Christchurch area which have had new builds, refurbishments and redevelopments over the past decade.
The school is working with a design team, and Hann Construction will be the construction company managing the project and construction services.
Our work to date has been led by a Redevelopment sub-committee of the School Board, our Principal and our senior leadership team. We are grateful to members of our school community who are actively contributing to this process too.
Below is more about the project, and what we have planned.
It is an exciting time!
Phases of the project
We completed the first Master Planning phase of the development in 2022. This looked at our whole school campus, the buildings and layout and what our school could look like in 20-30 years.
In 2023 we moved into the Preliminary Design phase which involved getting into more detail about what work needs to be done in the project, the design of the buildings and how our school will function in the future.
In preparation for construction, trees were removed and new fencing was erected around the property during the December 2023 school holidays. This work allows us to minimise disruption as we move into construction later this year.
The Design
The overall campus structure will be determined as we finalise the project. There are two main parts we want to share with you:
Step 1: A new relocatable building that will arrive on site near Rooms 13 - 16.
Step 2: The main construction works that will happen on Rooms 1 - 12.
Step 1 - relocatable building
The relocatable building (marked to the right in yellow) is set to arrive on the property as early as the April school holidays, pending any changes in the project.
This new building will be ready for use as we head into the redevelopment of Rooms 1 to 12 and we need to move classes to allow for the work to be completed.
It will stay on site as a new junior classroom and it is planned that Rooms 13 to 16 will eventually be removed.
Step 2 - the main project
The biggest component of the redevelopment is modernising our 'spine' of classrooms from Room 1 to Room 12. This work will be completed in phases, with blocks of four classrooms (1-4, 5-8, 9-12) being done in sections.
Our current plan is to start at the back of the school (Block 3, Rooms 9-12) and work our way to the front of the school through Block 2 and Block 1.
We know that classes will have to be shuffled around, and are making plans on the best way to do that as the project commences.
Admin and Block 1 — floor plan
The Admin area will be reconfigured to incorporate the main reception, sick bay, offices and meeting rooms. We are looking at access to the Admin from the carpark area.
The classrooms in Block 1 will be single-cell, with the ability to open up rooms and have some shared spaces. They will also have dedicated toilet facilities, and continue to open onto the verandah as they currently do, as well providing better accessibility for wheelchairs. The interior and exterior of these classrooms will be modernised while keeping the 'bones' of the school and our weatherboard look.
Blocks 2 and 3 — floor plan
Blocks 2 and 3 are similar to Block 1. All learning spaces will be L-shaped and connected by sliding doors giving us single cell classrooms, and the ability to open up spaces to collaborate. There is a break out area in each room and toilets/resource rooms at the far end of both blocks.
