Chapel Pavilion Prospectus

Chapel Pavilion Prospectus

Message from the Chairman

The King’s School Memorial Chapel is the spiritual heart of the School, symbolising as it does the continuity of our brave and faithful community. The Chapel records a history that reflects the evolution of The King’s School and indeed Australia. Originally built in 1889 and extended in 1922 as a war memorial for Old Boys (some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice during WWI), the Memorial Chapel is the most significant link to the Old School site and those remaining Old Boys who were educated there.

Today, the Chapel is used weekly for a variety of purposes to sustain the Christian purpose and culture of the School. As the School has grown, the Chapel now lacks sufficient space and amenities to support the full range of service-learning and related educational programs offered to the 2,000 boys studying at Parramatta today.

To meet the space required to support the additional educational requirements, this project will provide for a new Pavilion and other amenities to build in proximity to, but sympathetic with, the Chapel. The new Pavilion will provide seats for up to 200 students, together with toilet and catering facilities, within the heritage restrictions of the Chapel precinct. The building will be a flexible space that will serve as an additional function centre for the School and its community complementing the Chapel. It will expand the range of activities that can be supported in the precinct, sustaining the entire community of The King’s School through important life events.

We hope you enjoy reading the Chapel Pavilion Prospectus and invite you to use your mobile phone to scan the QR codes throughout the document. This will help activate a range of wonderfully immersive, digital experiences of this exciting project.

The King’s School community has a long and generous history of enabling new developments for the School. In that tradition, and as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chapel’s relocation to Gowan Brae, we again look to you to support this important community project.

With my warmest best wishes,

Rosemary Abrahams Chairman | The Council of The King’s School

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:7

Towards the 2031 Bicentenary

In 2031, The King’s School will celebrate two hundred years since its inception, as Australia’s oldest independent School. The King’s School Chapel with its unique stained-glass windows and pipe organ was extended as a memorial to Old Boys, some of whom were killed during World War I. The Chapel at Gowan Brae symbolises the identity and continuity of the oldest Independent School in Australia.

The Chapel Pavilion project is part of the Heritage Precinct, which sits in the context of the School Masterplan. A transformative array of capital works projects and facilities which will help to future-proof the School for the next one hundred years.

About the Project

On Sunday 24 April 2022, we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the relocation to Gowan Brae of The King’s School Chapel. It has been fifty years since the Chapel was painstakingly rebuilt, stone by stone, on its current site.

Currently, the Chapel is used weekly for a variety of services that sustain the Christian purpose and culture of the School. However, it lacks sufficient space and amenities to support the full scope of educational and service learning programs offered by the School.

The development of the Chapel as a heritage building imposes significant restrictions, which the School seeks to address with the construction of a Pavilion, Heritage Walk & Memorial Garden to meet the additional educational requirements.

A Place to Come Together

Through educational programs of character development, leadership and service, the Chapel Pavilion will provide opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the rich history, traditions, and Christian community of The King’s School. This important space will allow our community to come together to celebrate significant life events.

Looking out from the Pavilion, this important space will allow our community to come together to celebrate significant life events – connecting our past, present and future.

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The timber, sandstone and glass used in the Pavilion reference materials found in the Chapel and elsewhere within The King’s School campus. The Pavilion roof is designed to ‘float’ above the sandstone base and to provide a warm and enticing glow at night.

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Spaces & Facilities

The Chapel Pavilion Project provides immersive learning opportunities within the Heritage precinct of the School. Three distinct zones have been created for learning, gathering and reflection. With the Chapel at the heart, the spaces will ignite curiosity to explore, inspire learning and provide opportunities to reflect and connect with nature. Together, the spaces recognise a Kingsman’s journey, where the stories of The King’s School are told. Each reflects back to the spiritual heart of the Chapel.

This plan shows reference points along a Kingsman’s learning journey within the Heritage precinct, including the Chapel and forecourt, the Cenotaph, the Pavilion, the Memorial Garden and the Campfire (outdoor learning area).

Chapel Pavilion

The Pavilion sits quietly on the hillside, overlooking the Chapel, underneath the canopy of existing trees.

Seating for a student year group is accommodated in the Pavilion. The connection between indoors and outdoors is seamless, with a combination of indoor and outdoor learning opportunities provided throughout the building and landscape surrounds.

The materials used for the Pavilion are raw, honest, and familiar within the context of The King’s School campus.

The Pavilion is connected to the Heritage Walk, the Memorial Garden and the Chapel through sandstone pathways embedded with reminders of King’s history and tradition….

Heritage Walk

The Heritage Walk will tell the stories of Old Boys & Kingsmen through interactive learning elements, inspired by The King’s School Archives. The aim of this area of the project is to ‘bring history to life’.

The western side of the Heritage Walk integrates touchplates for the remembrance of loved ones, overlooking the Pavilion, the Chapel and White Oval beyond.

The Heritage Wall is a canvas to invite storytelling of King’s past and present, but also to inspire boys to make their own history and create their own future. Both towards the 2031 bicentenary and beyond.

Memorial Garden

The Memorial Garden is a quiet place for personal reflection, with views centred on the western side of the Chapel.

Water is the centrepiece of this space, providing opportunities for quiet reflection at the same time as reflecting the actual views of the Chapel.

All senses will be engaged in this space through fragrant gardens, the sounds of water, birdlife and views of the Chapel.

Touchplates for the remembrance of loved ones will be integrated into the curved sandstone walls, with seating provided within the garden encouraging visitors to pause and reflect.

Take a moment of reflection at the Memorial Garden. An immersive 3D guide.

How You Can Help

So much at King’s has been achieved through the generosity of the King’s community. The facilities which current boys and staff enjoy are largely the result of the generosity of generations which have invested in our boys and their School.

The School Council, the Headmaster and The King’s School Foundation –with the support of The King’s School Old Boys Union – are committed to this next exciting development in the educational facilities of The King’s School.

I hope you will join us in continuing the momentum, as we look to provide the facilities and learning environment that empowers the very best education for each generation of King’s boys.

The King’s School of today is the result of longstanding philanthropic commitment by many.

If you would like to discuss how you may wish to contribute to this exciting and transformative project, please contact The King’s School Head of Foundation, Mr Will Halliday.

whalliday@kings.edu.au or +61 2 9683 8429.

Thank you for your consideration.

Cameron Poolman (’86) President | The King’s School Foundation