Located in the historic area of Ballybricken, the brief required the existing garda barracks to be demolished to build a new primary and nursery school.

The site was once occupied by the old Waterford prison but was demolished in 1949. Revitalising the axis on the main entrance of the prison was one of the main goals that I set for this project. 

The primary school had an unusual form, this was intended to create a modern shape building with two classroom wings. Students and staff arrived from the main entrance into a common space which had a double height space, form there they would enter the classroom corridors. On the opposite side parents could arrive into an administrative and meeting area.

Access to the nursery was along the east side of the site. The nursery contained carefully designed classrooms for different age groups and security was a major factor in the design. The nursery is enclosed, this allowed kids to play in the corridors and also in the exterior garden looking down onto the public courtyard.

Allowing the public to use the site was important. The site had the potential to open up a view down into the lower city quarters at the rear. The public would enjoy the view by walking along the old stone wall on the east side of the site arriving at a public courtyard in front of the nursery. An underground sports hall was also included in the design to create an interesting feature for the school but also to allow the public to step down into a small courtyard from the street to perhaps reminisce as they took a glimpse at the activities below.