Cadogan Song School Extension

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"The Cadogan Song School was commissioned to complete the composition of buildings within the historical Treasury/ Cathedral precinct, and provide facilities for the St. George’s Cathedral choir. Located between St. George’s Cathedral, Burt Memorial Hall, Church House and the Deanery, the 200sqm Song School was designed to not only visually balance the composition of unique existing buildings, but allow full access throughout the site.

Consisting of a series of sculptural vaulted arches and a ‘tuning fork’ spire - a contemporary reference to the religious architectural language and defining lancet windows of the Cathedral – the scale and form of the vaults allows the eye to transition and understand the dialogue between old and new. The materiality and color of the Song School were considered in response to the visual balance across the entire Cathedral site. The crisp white vaults reference the two existing visual extremes of the site – the Deanery and Ascalon, contributing to an existing language on a dense site.

To preserve site lines, the majority of the Song School is subterranean and sits within the foundations of the Cathedral and Burt Hall. Internally, the vaulted hall references the forms of a classical underground ‘crypt’ typically found in the depths of cathedrals, continuing the spirit and understanding of site within. A key requirement was that it should ‘acoustically’ match the Cathedral. Solid oak floors and custom milled diffuser wall panels clad the majority of the hall. The vaulted ceilings comprising of curved concrete beams and perforated brass panels house all Air Conditioning, Lighting and Fire services above to successfully meet technical acoustic requirements.

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