International Grammar School Kindergarten and Year 1 Centre
International Grammar School engaged our team to provide project management services for the Kindergarten and Year 1 Centre at its Ultimo campus.
The project involved the complete strip out and refurbishment of two levels of an existing school building to create a flexible and adaptive early learning centre. The new centre includes open plan classrooms, wet areas, bathrooms, an outdoor playground and associated building services upgrades.
Our role covered the project pathway from concept design through to construction and completion. This included design management, procurement management, superintendency and contract administration, with the works delivered through a Development Application planning approval pathway.
The challenge
The project needed to support the school’s growth strategy and broader masterplan while working within an existing campus building that was more than 100 years old. This created practical delivery challenges, particularly around fire compliance, services upgrades and the need to adapt older building fabric for contemporary early learning use.
The project also needed to balance stakeholder expectations with time, cost and scope control. As the works progressed, unavoidable project challenges required extensions to scope, budget and timing, while procurement issues with key architectural joinery finishes required redesign.
For the school, clear communication was critical. The project team needed to keep stakeholders informed, secure the required approvals and endorsements, and protect the pathway to handover so the centre could be ready for school operations.
Our approach
Our project managers led the development and delivery process from concept design into construction and completion. We coordinated consultants, contractors and school stakeholders to keep design, procurement, approvals and delivery activities aligned.
Design management was a key part of the role, particularly as the project responded to fire compliance requirements in the existing building and redesign requirements linked to architectural finishes. Our team helped manage the technical, commercial and stakeholder implications of these changes while maintaining visibility of time and cost impacts.
Through superintendency and contract administration, we supported disciplined delivery of the works and provided transparent reporting to the client. This helped manage expectations, support decision-making and maintain confidence through a project environment with changing scope and delivery pressures.
The result
The Kindergarten and Year 1 Centre was handed over for school operation in May 2025, providing International Grammar School with a flexible early learning environment aligned with its growth strategy.
The completed centre transformed two levels of an existing campus building into adaptive learning spaces for younger students, supported by wet areas, bathrooms, outdoor play space and upgraded building services.
Despite the challenges of working within an older building and managing procurement-related redesign, our team secured the required endorsements and delivered the project to the client’s satisfaction. Following completion of the Kindergarten and Year 1 Centre, we were engaged to project manage a further façade remediation project for International Grammar School.
