Windy Ridge School in Auckland’s North Shore was due to open its new two storey block, Te Whare Ako in mid 2023 and needed assistance to plan the new spaces and make maximum use of the school's tight budget. Having collaborated with us on numerous learning space upgrades over the past 7-8 years, former Deputy Principal Jenine Maxwell approached our Territory Account Manager Graham Lyons to assist her with this latest project.
Planning Process
With a very tight budget to work with it was agreed that furnishing of Te Whare Ako would be best achieved in two phases. The focus of the first phase was to simply fit-out the spaces with the bare necessities to facilitate the opening of the new block and allow the school to move into its new classrooms.This mostly involved the reallocation of existing furniture from the school’s old classrooms, supplemented with a few new pieces of furniture to fill in any critical gaps that Graham and Jenine identified. Fortunately Graham is a master at working with a limited budget and finding creative ways to tie in new items with a school’s existing furniture.
Once the school had finished settling into Te Whare Ako and the classrooms were being fully utilised, Graham returned to the school to complete the second phase of the project. This included a walk-through with Jenine and consultation with all the relevant teaching staff to identify what additional furniture was required to further enhance the learning spaces.
Educational Furniture Supplied
Ultimately the full fit-out of Windy Ridge's Te Whare Ako block included the manufacture and supply of the following items:
- Horseshoe tables
- MLE Stools
- Z Tool and trolleys
- Bag cubby holes
- Kneeler tables
- Classroom tables
- Sigma Tables
- Library shelving
- Swerve Tables
- Library Tower
- 6 Tier book display
- En one Chairs
- Tote Tray Units
Delivery and Installation of Classroom Furniture
Graham assisted with the fit-out from beginning to end, ensuring that the most cost effective solutions were identified for each classroom and that the teachers had meaningful input into their learning spaces. The classrooms in Te Whare Ako are functional and modern and the teachers and students are thoroughly enjoying their new learning environments.
