School Campus

West Island School

West Island School, an English Schools Foundation school, is officially opened by the Governor, the Right Honourable Christopher Patten, on Wednesday, 7th December 1994. The school, originally housed temporarily in the former British Military Hospital premises at 10 Borrett Road, moved into the splendid purpose-built school in September 1994. There were 410 students in the school but the number building up to a thousand by the year of 2000, currently we have more than 1200 students from different countries around the world.

Design Concept

The design of West Island School was aimed not only as utilizing the space in the most functional way, but both the difficult development conditions, and the positive attributes of the site had to be taken into consideration. In addition, the design had to pay attention to the educational process that occurs inside and outside of the classroom. For example, the design of the building utilizes the natural environment to provide comfortable areas for both studying and relaxing or gathering. This is reflected in the large spaces that can be used for public events, such as, lectures, performances, sports events and exhibitions.

The sports hall, indoor swimming pool and multi-purpose hall, are grouped at the lower level. The landscaped roof is lined with plants, and the area is used as a playground and roof garden. The school block is separated into three sections which are connected by bridges over the central drainage reserve and is situated on an upper level, which is open to natural lighting from all sides. The curvilinear walls of the building base follow site contours closely, to minimize the excavation, and to visually respond to the existing slopes; creating a greater empathy of the building form with the natural environment. Views to the sea can be seen from many areas of the school. The building design emphasizes the ‘school image’, but is made non-institutional by a variety of colours, texture, space, form and lighting; creating interesting and dynamic visual sensations, without compromising the structure and planning, which is both straight forward and practical.

Landscape Design

The areas of the site that were not required for building works have been conserved, and where appropriate, landscaped for environmental and amenity purposes. There are three distinctive landscaped areas: the, ‘Study Garden’, at the east end of the site takes advantage of the very large existing trees which form a canopy above the relatively gentle slope. Amenity features such as simple circular terracing for an outdoor amphitheatre, benches and outdoor seating area for refreshment are provided. Care has been taken to conserve and enhance the unique atmosphere of this area. The, ‘Central Terraces’, incorporate a variety of indigenous plants, existing rock outcropping and a water feature to form the landscaped base of the grand central space and lower entrance. The third landscaped area is around the former grave plot. This area is left as natural as possible with existing vegetation preserved as a buffer between the school and the adjacent clinic. ‘Hard’ landscaped components such as paving, lights, footpaths, steps, benches and walls have been introduced in order to make the full use of the outdoor spaces to be safe and convenient.

Campus Gallery

You might want to see the gallery of our school building and facilities here.